Jobseekers 'change accents to get ahead'

Many jobseekers are prepared to change their accents because they think it will give them a competitive edge over other candidates, a survey has found.

Research conducted by Bury Technologies discovered that 16 per cent of people changed their accent in an interview to help them secure a position, Recruiter reports.

A further 83 per cent made their accent less pronounced or more neutral.

The Queen's English was found to be the most popular accent for getting ahead in business, followed by Scottish or the Home Counties and then a Yorkshire or Hampshire voice.

London and Liverpool accents were the least popular.

Kathy Marshall, director at Marshall Moore, believes jobseekers should not feel like they have to change the way they talk.

In the end, if you are a really good quality candidate, it would not matter. It all comes down to how good you are, she said.

A spokesperson for ClickAJob concurs, advising that candidates should drop all pretence.

If you try to be something that you're not, your interview is sure to fail, he points out.

A put-on accent is hard for most people to sustain and suggests that something else may be iffy about them too.

Best of all is to be yourself and show by your attitude that you are a committed professional - as long as you're genuine, interviewers will respond positively, he concludes.

Interviewgold.com recently claimed that a good CV is more important than ever for jobseekers because of the recession.