What Hiring Panels Are Really Listening For When English Isn't Your First Language

You have an upcoming interview and ticked the box that states you have 'Professional Working Proficiency' or 'Full Professional Proficiency' in English and now you’re secretly wishing you hadn’t?

The honest truth is that particularly if you’re applying for a senior leadership position a lot of how your language skills are judged comes down composure. Professional proficiency in any language is more about confidence than accuracy.

Why? Because even native speakers make frequent grammar mistakes and lose words. The difference is that it doesn’t completely derail a native speaker when it happens because their sense of self worth isn’t tied to minor language errors.

Your new company doesn’t want you perfect, they want you present. They want you to be able to give all of yourself in meetings rather than holding yourself back and overthinking your language, your vocabulary or your accent.

Yes, accuracy and clarity are important, especially if you’re going to be representing the company, but what’s even more important is having the confidence to be able to share your ideas and have enough presence whilst sharing them, so that your team feel comfortable standing behind the ideas you share. Not just because they make sense, but because they feel your confidence in them. When you hesitate and hold back, your team can’t tell the difference between language insecurity and leadership insecurity, they just feel your hesitation and uncertainty.

So with that being said here are a few things to take into consideration if you have an upcoming interview and you ticked that Professional working or full professional proficiency box and are secretly wishing you hadn’t.

To award a language grade accurately requires formal testing with a written, spoken and listening element that tests grammar as well as vocabulary and pronunciation. The chances are that even if the interviewer(s) had such a test, they wouldn’t know how to mark or accurately grade your English level.  Native speakers, unless they are teachers don’t generally know what grammar occurs at what level and even for a language teacher placing someone into a level isn’t easy.

The interviewer(s) are likely going to be focussing on the content of what you say not on your language errors. If part of your interview is in English they usually want to check that you can follow conversations on work related themes, communicate your opinions and be understood. If you’re interviewing outside of the UK or USA (Australia or New Zealand) the chances are you’ll be interviewed by a non-native speaker themselves who could themselves not feel completely comfortable speaking English either.

The aim is to be able to understand work related topics and communicate your opinions. Not perfectly, not without mistakes, not without pauses, not while using complex idiomatic phrases etc so don’t put yourself under too much pressure to speak ‘perfect’ English. And if you don’t understand the question, say! At an operational level, your future company need to know that you’ll ask if something is unclear during a team meeting rather than bluff your way through. The interview is no different. Get comfortable using clarifying phrases such as ‘I’m sorry I’m not following what you’re saying’ or ‘So, to clarify, what you’re asking/saying is…’

What does professional working capacity for a language actually mean?

It’s generally accepted that using the CEFR (Common European Framework for Languages)  professional working capacity relates to B2 upwards. If you’re not familiar with the grading system the framework is divided into 3 levels each with an upper and lower level. A1 A2 for beginner, B1 B2 for intermediate, C1 C2 for advanced. Most people who have studied English at school and continued using their language skills in the work place with the occasional Business English or conversation course can be placed within the intermediate B1-B2 level. This means they have covered all grammar topics and can communicate (understand and express themselves) using a wide range of tenses using a wide variety of vocabulary.

Having professional working capacity in a language means you can understand every day topics, industry relevant texts, attend meetings, follow the conversation and contribute in that language without needing a translator. Professional working capacity doesn't mean you’re able to understand every word that's said or speak without errors or pauses. In fact, even at full professional proficiency you're not expected to speak error free without an accent. But when it comes to high pressure situations such as meetings, presentations and interviews we tend to forget that.

So yes, brush up on your language skills and prepare phrases for concepts you'd like to express, but more importantly prepare how you want to come across. Spend time each day working on your confidence in your ability rather than any concerns of possible lack, and rather than scripting trust that you are so much more than your language in a foreign tongue.

First impressions last, so make sure it's the confident version of you that's shaking hands with the MD, not the terrified 13 year old who failed their English oral.

Accessing confidence in high pressure situations takes self knowledge and practice and it's the exact work I do with clients. If you've got interviews coming up and want to walk in as the version of you who's actually ready, click on the link to arrange a call to discuss what working together would look like.