How employable is your accent?
There is not one sole British accent – they differ across the country based on region. And it seems we all have different attitudes to different regional accents. Here, factory cleaning company DCS Multiserve investigates whether different accents can affect how employable you are.
Are employers influenced by an applicant’s accent?
The simple answer is yes. Research has shown that a strong accent can affect how employable a person is – and how they are treated at work. This is highlighted in research which revealed that eight in 10 employers admit to making discriminating decisions based on regional accents, according to a report by law firm Peninsula.
For example, a teacher from Cumbria was advised to "sound less Cumbrian" by employers, according to a Guardian report. The same report also noted that a school in the West Midlands recently banned pupils from speaking regional slang to improve their chances of getting a job.
Is your accent employable?
According to research by Professor Lance Workman, it was found that employers favour some accents over others, as reported by Recruiting Times. In particular, he found that employers favour RP/Queen’s English – despite being spoken by only 3% of the population. This was linked strongly to perceived levels of intelligence associated with a Queen’s English/RP accent, ahead of other regional accents – the Yorkshire accent was also discovered to be associated with intelligence.
On the contrary, the Birmingham accent was discovered to be less intelligent – according to the research. 16% of Brummies have attempted to reduce their natural accent in job interviews.
Attitudes towards regional accents
Just as accents differ region by region, as do the attitudes towards each regional accent. Whether they are positive or negative, different assumptions are made based on accents in Great Britain. In 2013, ComRes and ITV interviewed 2,006 adults in early August, 2,014 adults in mid August and 2,025 adults in September to determine the attitudes to different regional accents. They discovered that…
- 28% of Brits feel discriminated against because of the way they speak. 14% feel accent discrimination in the workplace and 12% in job interviews.
- Discrimination in different situations varies, with 20% also feeling discrimination in social situations and 13% when being served in shops or restaurants too.
What is the most ‘friendly’ regional accent?
Devon was voted as the most friendly accent in the UK by survey respondents, followed by:
- Devon (65% of votes as ‘friendly’)
- Newcastle (56% of votes as ‘friendly’)
- Edinburgh (51% of votes as ‘friendly’)
- Cardiff (51% of votes as ‘friendly’)
- Cockney (49% of votes as ‘friendly’)
What is the most ‘unfriendly’ regional accent?
Liverpool was voted as the most unfriendly accent in the UK by survey respondents, followed by:
- Liverpool (26% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
- Belfast (24% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
- RP/Queen’s English (23% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
- Manchester (21% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
- Birmingham (21% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
What is the most ‘intelligent’ accent?
RP/Queen’s English was voted as the most intelligent accent in the UK by survey respondents, followed by:
- RP/Queen’s English (62% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
- Edinburgh (38% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
- Devon (28% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
- Belfast (23% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
- Cardiff (23% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
What is the most ‘unintelligent’ accent?
Liverpool was voted as the most unintelligent accent in the UK by survey respondents, followed by:
- Liverpool (37% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
- Birmingham (33% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
- Cockney (32% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
- Newcastle (26% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
- Manchester (22% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
What is the most ‘trustworthy’ accent?
RP/Queen’s English was voted as the most trustworthy accent in the UK by survey respondents, followed by:
- RP/Queen’s English (51% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
- Devon (51% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
- Edinburgh (44% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
- Cardiff (37% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
- Newcastle (36% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
What is the most ‘untrustworthy’ accent?
Liverpool was voted as the most untrustworthy accent in the UK by survey respondents, followed by:
- Liverpool (29% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
- Cockney (24% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
- Belfast (20% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
- Birmingham (17% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
- Manchester (17% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
In terms of accent discrimination itself, the survey respondents were also conscious of doing it – 6% admitted to discriminating against someone’s accent in the workplace and 4% in a job interview.
Avoiding accent discrimination
When applying for a new job, you want to be hired based on your personality and capabilities. Unfortunately, some employers allow accents to influence their decision. There are a number of different (and somewhat conflicting) approaches that can be taken to accent discrimination. Some of the approaches recommended include:
- Stay clear of using regional slang, but don’t hide your accent – advice from Francesca Turner, a National Careers Service adviser.
- Don’t change your accent or the way you speak – advice from Brian Staines, Senior Career Adviser at the University of Bristol.
- Embrace your accent – back in 2014, Liverpudlian jobs minister Esther McVey advised people from the North West not to feel pressured to change their accent. McVey argued that people make a variety of judgements when looking for employees and that ‘we just need people who reflect other people’ and that her accent hadn’t held her back in her career. McVey also added: “I think it can be a colourful accent."
When interviewing applicants for a new role, you want to ensure you hire the best person for the role. However, with attitudes circulating towards regional accents, sometimes they can influence a decision to hire an applicant. For employers reading this article who want to avoid making choices based on accents, there are a number of preventative measures you can take – according to HR Daily Advisor and HMR. Some of these include:
- Make sure those with accents are not singled out in any way.
- Make sure all parts of the interviewing process do not discriminate.
- Try to avoid placing individuals with certain accents in certain roles.
- Avoid questioning the suitability of certain accents for roles over others.