International candidates: 5 tips to sound articulate in job interviews

One of the things that always surprise me when coaching for job interviews is how difficult expressing our knowledge and suitability for a position become. We all know people who are very knowledgeable, very diligent and trustworthy and, for some reason, they don’t get that job which description matched 120% with them. Bad luck? Probably bad articulation.

What can you do to sound more articulate and get the job you want?

·         Show off: there is nothing wrong in selling yourself as long as you tell the truth. At the end of the day, if you don’t do it, the next candidate will and who will get the position? You are warned.



Being articulate is key to stand out of the crowd



·         Make the most of your international background: many people understate their ability to speak several languages, how they can acknowledge and take advantage of cultural differences and their gift to build relationships with people from different backgrounds. If you have international experience, make it work for you. Explain concrete examples in which that kind of experience has helped you in the past and how it can help you in the position you are applying for. If you have done your homework I am sure you already know in which country is done what and how all the functions and locations relate to each other.

·         When using big words, give real examples. Too many people define themselves as ‘proactive people’, ‘real team players’ and ‘innovative’. Too often interviewers find themselves either thinking ‘sure…’ or ‘what do they mean?’ Build your credibility by giving real and concrete examples. Did you go an extra mile so that your colleague could finish his part in time and the project was successfully and timely delivered? Did you propose solution X which helped saving Y million of pounds? Be concrete, it will make you stand out of the crowd.

·         Quantify. Managing big projects, dealing with suppliers and having a team reporting to you don’t really give any kind of information. If you are an architect: did you design one house or the Guggenheim museum? Did you have a budget of £20,000 or £200 Million? Did you have one person reporting to you or a team of 100 with 10 direct reports? The same applies from admin positions (for how many people did you manage the payslips?) to the CEO.

·         Don’t put yourself down: if you are not the right candidate, let the interviewer make the decision themselves. Saying things like ‘I might not have the right qualifications’, ‘I am not very good at that’ or ‘I do not have the relevant experience’ put you already out of competition. Don’t talk yourself down and specially don’t do it with public. You might not have experience that matches 100% with the requirements; very likely most of the candidates don’t have it either but I am sure you have some transferable skills that can be useful in your new position. Your qualifications might not be the ones they asked for in the ad but unless you need a certification like for accountancy, it might not be that critical and as for the ‘I am not very good at that’, who says that?

And the most important thing: reading this article is not enough. List the big words you want to use and the examples for each one; summarise in writing your international experience and how it applies to the new position, quantify everything you have done and write positive answers. Now read it out loud. How does it sound? Odd, doesn’t it? Try again changing the structure, the words. Better now, right? Yes, we have noticed: we do not sound articulate because we are born articulate. We sound articulate because we learn how to do it and we prepare for it. More than that, after having written our answers a couple of times and being satisfied we actually learnt them by heart and how did we sound this time? Brilliant! As if we were born articulate and not prepared for it!

Nel Rivero

International Corporate & Executive Coach 

@ Sky Ladder Coaching 

The Sky is the limit, getting there is up to you!

P.S. Please, feel free to email me for some Job Interview Coaching information @ nel.rivero@skyladdercoaching.com and also check my website (www.skyladdercoaching.com) for further details.

6 tips for interviews for non-natives

A couple of days ago, when I was researching my favourite subject: coaching for foreigners, I bumped into some coaching tips for interviews for non-natives. Against my best judgement, most of the tips were related to improve vocabulary and accent. While I considered improving vocabulary and accent in 3 days a very noble goal, I also realised most of my clients and friends have been foreigners in the country they live in for over 5 years and, surprise, surprise, they still have an accent and learn new words every week. More interestingly, they have a job too and they have gone through interviews with their accents and been successful.

So I started thinking, if you are a non native facing an interview, how can you best prepare yourself?

v  Be aware of the job you want. You possibly already have the interview but sometimes we force ourselves into what seems to be the most logical path or what people expect from us as oppose to what really makes us tick. You can smell passion miles away, and you interviewer will smell lack of passion before you even set a foot in the office. If you make a clear definition of the type of company, job and must have’s, applying will be far less time consuming, less painful and most importantly, you will impress the interviewer with your spark because you really want the job.

v  Present yourself in the way you are expected in your adopting country. Just as an example of the cultural differences in the way you present yourself, in Spain a CV will always include a picture of yourself. If you don’t include it, it is taken you have something to hide (an eye in the forehead most likely) and you won’t get the interview. In the UK, anti-discrimination laws state that you shouldn’t reveal your ethnicity (which a picture does) and therefore if you include your picture you are ruled out of the process. So make sure your CV is written in a way that suits your new country, you approach the interview and the interviewer as you are expected and you lead or follow depending on the local preferences and you dress appropriately. In some countries, even if they email you saying the dress code is smart casual, they might expect you to come in a suit so pay special attention at subtle ways of communication.

Interviews don't need to be tricky for non natives

v  Build your value proposition. What are you bringing to the company? What differentiates you from your competition? Is the relevant experience, qualifications, drive, passion…? If you are able to articulate clearly why you want the job and what you will bring to the company you are already ahead of 90% of the natives.

v  Prepare the answer to all questions, including the tricky ones. Being articulate is one of the most wanted skills interviewers look for. Very few people are happy to work with those who are not sure, doubt, have no opinion, go in circles or over analyse instead of responding. Being articulate sells credibility, trust, clarity of thought and professionalism, with or without an accent. So the best thing to do is to prepare for the TOP 50 interview questions. If you do, you will be able to answer on the spot any unexpected one.

v  Do your homework: find out as much as you can about the company, the position and also the interviewer. If you have the name, you can Google them up and check their LinkedIn profiles. Find something in common with them. Did they go to the same university you did, did they live in a city you have, do they play golf…?  People are more likely to employ you if they connect with you at a personal level so don’t miss the opportunity to create rapport.

v  Don’t worry about your accent, incomplete vocabulary or grammar mistakes. People like employing credible and trust-worthy people. My personal experience and my client’s personal experience is that accent self-consciousness makes you focus on it as oppose to your value proposition and how well you fit into the company. A perfect native accent won’t win you a job but lack of articulation as a result of being concentrate in your grammar mistakes as oppose to the opportunity you have in front of you will make you lose it. So if you don’t feel comfortable about your accent, start working on it months ahead you have any interview and stop any classes a couple of weeks before. These classes tend to focus on what you say wrong and when preparing for an interview you need all your energy in what you do right.

I would tell any non natives interviewees not to forget body language: sit upright, smile, show interest. But honestly, if you love the job you are applying for, you are articulate on your value proposition, have prepared the answers to any questions and are confident in the way you present yourself, you will do it anyway. And guess what? Being a foreigner will never be relevant again!

Nel Rivero

International Corporate & Executive Coach 

@ Sky Ladder Coaching 

The Sky is the limit, getting there is up to you!

5 tips for better communication with your multinational / international team

One of the most interesting things when you work in a multi-national environment in that you normally don’t see the most frequent misunderstandings coming. While we are all very careful about respecting different backgrounds and making comments about any of them, the ‘lost in translation’ misunderstanding is always unexpected and unpredictable. This is the kind of situation where you are the native and you deal with non natives who happen to translate an expression literally. And the literal translation is at the very least offensive. It is only that being a native you never realised before.

A few years ago, when I leaded a multinational team made of people from all over Europe, I asked one of my direct reports to do something for me. He resisted a little and I said very sweetly in a very girlie way, ‘come on, please, do it for me’. To my surprise we came back to me in a very angry way. He asked me why I was treating him so disrespectfully. Obviously I did not mean to treat him disrespectfully but what is worse I did not understand why I was being disrespectful when I requested his help in such a sweet and girlie way. He clarified: you have said ‘walk and do it’. I said that I actually said ‘come one, please, do it for me’. He insisted ‘that is not what you said’. And then I realised! In my native Spanish if you translate literally the girlie way I said ‘come on’ it is definitely ‘walk and do it’. However, for natives, that expression is the softest and less formal way you can get to say ‘come on’ without sounding bossy. So obviously, apart from explaining the expression and apologising, I made a mental note to never ever use it again with a foreigner. And I was grateful for the privilege of being told. In most cases, if you are the manager, people won’t tell you. They will just start showing indifference and lack of rapport.

So when it comes to communicate to your multinational team, how can you reduce the occurrence of  ‘lost in translation’:

v  Speak slowly, the slower you speak the most likely it is for foreigner to understand you. Don’t forget they need more time to process and more time to elaborate questions. Give them their time.

v  Apply an open policy. If you are comfortable with it, acknowledge the richness of the international mixture, the possibility of misunderstandings and let them know if they need you to speak slower, rephrase something or some clarification, they can stop you any time and you will repeat things as many times as needed. Shy people will start talking and you will build respect within your team. Bosses who present themselves as supportive, open and not know_it_all are more respected by their teams.

v  Reduce your use of slang. Some literal translations might be offensive or at the very least confusing. If you want your team to move in the right direction, explain things plainly with standard non street vocabulary. The ‘happy go lucky’ or a ‘big fish in a small pond’ is obvious for you and for Google but might not be for your team.

v  Hold one to one meetings, especially if you are managing a change of procedure, line of work or policy. If you want to make sure everybody understood how to move forward in your last meeting, there is nothing like a 10 minute one-to-one session. Shy people will speak up, objections will appear and any misunderstanding will be easily solved.

v  Celebrate the international mixture and richness. Acknowledge the variety of ideas and points of views and help you team members in improving their language skills if they ask for any clarification. Some subtleties of the language are not in grammar books and they will be grateful forever for your help.

v  And above all, enjoy it! Any misunderstandings are always fun stories to share with your friends at the pub and the experience, the exposure and the openness of mind you get is priceless.

And if you want any help, the ‘Just Diversified’ package at Sky Ladder Coaching, will definitely make a difference in your management of multinational teams. Check out the details at: www.skyladdercoaching.com or alternatively email me at nel.rivero@skyladdercoaching.com

Nel Rivero

International Corporate & Executive Coach 

@ Sky Ladder Coaching 

The Sky is the limit, getting there is up to you!

Join me at http://uk.linkedin.com/in/nelrivero

Over coffee: 5 tips for successful multinational teams

International businesses are considered by many as the richest environment to generate best practices and best added value. However, there are a number of executives and managers who consider them at the very least ‘challenging’.

Why what many think is a great opportunity may be taken as a threat? International working environments give you the opportunity to get many different ideas out of the very same basic information since every individual comes from a different background. However, if not managed correctly multinational environments are misunderstanding-prone for the very same reason they are idea-rich: each one of us interpret facts differently based on our culture and experiences. What is a courtesy in your home land may be very offending in other countries.

Let’s take coffee as an example: in the UK it is considered as pure courtesy to ask your colleagues whether they would like some coffee and drop the cups at their desks to enjoy them privately. Conversations by the coffee machine might be considered as time wasters.

 In most Southern Europe countries, asking your colleagues whether they would like some coffee implies an invitation for a conversation by the coffee machine. You may be considered rude and not social if you wait for the coffee to land on your desk.

 In Greece, they go even further. If anybody makes you a coffee, you can consider that as a sign of ‘friendship’ or at least ‘respect and closeness’. You may not be offered coffee when you arrive at a customer till they trust you and think you have something worth listening. That might not happen till the third meeting. If you fail to appreciate the gesture, your business or friendship might be ruined.

Cultural differences show even over coffee

Should we stop the coffee habit now? Or should we focus on managing multinational teams it in the best possible way? Given half of the country struggles without their dose of caffeine, let’s focus on how to make the most out of international teams and cultural differences. Here are some commonalities for successful organisations in taking advantage of cultural diversity:

v  Leadership which appreciates the cultural differences and reinforces the value of different costumes and points of view. Successful leaders are open-minded and impressive good listeners.

v  Team building aimed to increase cooperation and time spent together as means to increase personal knowledge and cultural differences awareness.

v  Outstanding listening, characterised by being fully present and putting away judgement. The best in class corporations are such just because they give a voice to the different ideas and the diversity of ideas is what makes them reach the customer’s hearts and pockets.

v  Carefully chosen language when leaders and team mates speak and loosely interpreted when they listen. Non natives may use words incorrectly and create misunderstandings if we listen to them in a narrow-minded.

v  High self-awareness, which requires a special effort in understanding that what we take as polite may be consider very offensive and none of the postures are right or wrong.

Nel Rivero

International Corporate & Executive Coach 

@ Sky Ladder Coaching 

The Sky is the limit, getting there is up to you!