When I graduated from high school, the only thing I wanted to be was an advertising executive. Not because I actually liked advertising, and certainly not because I was any good at it, but simply because it was Amanda Woodward's job on Melrose Place (played by its perpetual special guest star, Heather Locklear). Â
In hindsight, choosing a profession based solely on an adolescent obsession might explain the long period of unemployment I endured after year 12. But that wasn't a realisation I had until much later in life. At the time, my lack of success was summarised convincingly by a cousin of mine: "You'll never get a job in advertising," she said, "because you sound like such a wog."
![Sound like a local and you can disguise incompetence. Sound like a foreigner and you could unfairly struggle.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170821034439im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/h/1/2/q/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxynj0.png/1503015623418.jpg)
And right there, with immediate effect, began a new obsession: a constant effort to speak English good. I mean, well. Two decades later, I still have to try hard every day to consciously round my vowels and speak at a measured pace, to emphasise syllables and adhere to grammar rules. But whenever I get super-excited about a particular topic, I suddenly find myself slipping and spluttering, forgetting entirely that the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.
What I've never forgotten, though, has been the harsh lesson, however misdirected, of correct pronunciation and a professional accent. It's a lesson I was reminded of this week as I read the findings of a study published a few months ago by a professor who's now at the University of Western Australia.
You don't need the findings of academic research to intuitively know many decision-makers harbour biases against accents different to their own. It's why call-centre staff overseas are often trained to mimic those they're serving and why foreigners in this country have to apply for more jobs.
The researcher, anyway, conducted a novel experiment in the United States, whereby he recorded people with a variety of accents as though they were in a telephone interview. He then asked more than 200 managers to listen to those candidates and to determine how likely they were to hire them.
The accents were Chinese, Indian, Mexican, American and British. Sadly, the results of the research validate what you might have already predicted. The American and British candidates, based on accent alone, were the most likely to be recruited; Mexicans and Chinese the least. Indians were in the middle.
When the analysis compared customer-facing roles to back-office roles, the foreign accents were judged less harshly when they had applied for work behind the scenes. This implies many managers make hiring decisions swayed not only by their own prejudices but also by what they expect their customers to be thinking and feeling, too. Out of sight, out of mind.
It's especially bad if you're a woman: "Female job applicants who speak with a foreign accent appear to suffer severe discrimination in employee selection up to three times more than the men face … Foreign migrant women face a double stigma surrounding gender and ethnicity."
The study was held among Americans so it's possible, albeit unlikely, that the findings would be different here. The more brutal truth is that many interviews begin with a phone call – a one-time opportunity where the only instrument with which to make an impression is your voice. And with that comes the misleading influence of your accent. Sound like a local and you can disguise incompetence. Sound like a foreigner and you could unfairly struggle. Â
As Professor Higgins tells Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady: "You'll get much further with the Lord if you learn not to offend His ears."
But assuming 'the Lord' in this case is a euphemism for an employer or a customer, it doesn't help that the issue is actually with his hearing.
Many managers make hiring decisions swayed not only by their own prejudices but also by what they expect their customers to be thinking and feeling, too.
James Adonis is the author of Employee Enragement. Follow MySmallBusiness on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.Â
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