aali-01

hey guys,
i have just arrived to melbourne and since my arrival i have been hearing different sorts of thing from different ppl but i really came across this really absurd thing that i would need to change my accent to australian, in order to get a job over here.
i thought language is just a medium of communication.
surely my accent is different because i am originally from Pakistan and i cannot simply change it.

regards,
Asad

moneypenny20

No you don't. Some people (minority) may have trouble understanding your accent. However there are many many different nationalities in Aus and many different accents. Some people may struggle, others won't and it all depends on where you are, how strong your accent is and who you're talking to.

aali-01

thanks for the reply. two ppl have told me the same thing till now
one guy told me that when a recruiter calls you and he doesnt like your accent, he would hang up. you know what, same thing happened to me
now i am not saying that the accent would have been the particular reason but you never know.
p.s
i could here the noise in background before he hung up.
no offense to anyone.

Beoz

Sounds like you are trying to spark pages of racist discussions. If it works good luck to you.

Bermudashorts

Loads of different accents in Australia, nobody has suggested I change mine.

So long as you speak clearly nobody is going to care.

AndrewMarilyn

What a rediculous thread

Kim67

What types of positions are you applying for and where are your qualifications from? Sometimes it's more about where you trained than your accent.

Dorothy

Hi Asad. As others have said, you don't need to change your accent to get a job. You may need to work on speaking more clearly since English may not be your first language. However, Melbourne is very diverse and there are loads of Indian and Pakistanis living there who have jobs.

How long have you been here? You may find it's more a matter of giving it some time. A lot of people are unable to find work for the first few months, no matter where they come from. This is also a really bad time of year to be looking for work. It's the Christmas and school holidays over the next few weeks and a lot of businesses close down or at least slow down.

Good luck in the job hunt. Don't give up hope yet, you'll likely find something in the new year.

Ridiculous, too! And why is it ridiculous for someone to query whether their accent may be an issue with finding work? I seem to remember Margaret was having problems with her colleagues and her Scottish accent so why would it be so different for a guy from Pakistan to find people have issues with his accent?

ozzieeagle

To Illistrate how different this is the no 1 pub band in Melbourne at present.... just starting tours of America and Canada and could well break world wide.




They didn't need to change their accents

Margaret3

Ridiculous, too! And why is it ridiculous for someone to query whether their accent may be an issue with finding work? I seem to remember Margaret was having problems with her colleagues and her Scottish accent so why would it be so different for a guy from Pakistan to find people have issues with his accent?[/QUOTE]



God did i ever have problems. Example one, in shop i asked for a can of coke and was told i could have a can of coke when i learn to say it properly(by an australian). nos2 told in a shop if i was going to stay in this country i would have to learn to speak properly(another australian). example 3, a surgeon at work told another nurse to ignore me as all scottish speak funny (the two people involved were Chinese).
I have had lots of problems, especially at work, not just from ozzies at work, but lots of problems from Asian people, which i have found extemely difficult to manage. Another example, could i stop speaking in the operating theatre as my accent carries all around it (by an English colleague)
I have been to counselling over it, which taught me strategies to deal with situations and has been a great help.
To be honest if i could've changed my accent i would've.
Just on Thursday i had a really difficult day with my accent, working with two surgeons who repeated everything 5 times incase i didnt understand, i was feeling particularly fragile on Thursday and had to leave the operating theatre i just couldnt cope with them at that time, usually i can, but thurs was a bad day.

I love working with a couple of surgeons who love my accent and make fun of it but i know its in good humour, but to be honest these type of people are few and far between.

Pollyana

Daft though it sounds, almost everyone has accent issues - Aussies as well.
Part of my job now involves speaking to SES members - often they are in rural areas, bad mobile reception, they are under stress as they are working - and yet they have to put up with this idiot with an accent from southern England asking them to repeat things slower and spell things because I just cannot understand some of the local accents when spoken fast. And yes, they have the same problem with me! Usually we turn it into a laugh, but its annoying for both of us that the different inflections and emphasis on some words makes it tough going.
We all just have to persist and accept the differences on both sides, I guess!

Margaret3

yep, i think i do, but unfortunately not everyone does.

Dorothy

As shitty as it is that people are cruel about your accent I think it's part of who you are, isn't it? Don't change who you are because of some small minded twats!

RedDragon2008

I said to the Australian guys I work with I could not understand them.

They said oh its our accent is it?

No, its your talking shite and I don't understand shite.

and to add insult too them

At least your women folk make sense.

mand8002

We had problems with our accent when we first came over (Yorkshire) and found that we had to speak slowly for Australians to understand us. I think our accent has changed slightly over time but is still very broad and I find I still have to speak slow for me to be understood