Having an American accent working in the U.K?

I'm Taiwanese American, I have a neutral American accent. I am planning to attend post-grad school in the U.K and possibly work in the U.K post-graduation.

I was wondering if having an American accent or just a non British accent is something that would work against you in the U.K/London in the financial sector. I understand places like London are very diverse, and there will be various accents you encounter day to day. But I wonder if there are any particular feelings towards Americans or people who speak with an American accent?

 

I worked in London with an american accent, altho I'm ethnically "white british", as they would say there, so if there are racial differences I wouldn't know about them. People do not look down on americans in my experience - you are something of a curiousity if anything, but we are very common there. However, class is noticeable in the UK, and accents are a major way this is transmitted. Finance in the UK is predominantly filled with upper class brits who went to "public" schools(i.e. private prep), and this is a sort of cultural "boost" that you will be missing out on. These people all speak with an upperclass "Received Pronunciation" accent (the Queen's accent basically). That said you won't have the barrier that you would if you had a lower class northern accent. This won't keep you out of jobs, but just something to be aware of.

 
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arbjunkie:
I worked in London with an american accent, altho I'm ethnically "white british", as they would say there, so if there are racial differences I wouldn't know about them. People do not look down on americans in my experience - you are something of a curiousity if anything, but we are very common there. However, class is noticeable in the UK, and accents are a major way this is transmitted. Finance in the UK is predominantly filled with upper class brits who went to "public" schools(i.e. private prep), and this is a sort of cultural "boost" that you will be missing out on. These people all speak with an upperclass "Received Pronunciation" accent (the Queen's accent basically). That said you won't have the barrier that you would if you had a lower class northern accent. This won't keep you out of jobs, but just something to be aware of.

Thanks for this information. I'm glad to hear it shouldn't be a problem, maybe it would possibly be an curiosity in a positive way since I'm Taiwanese born and speak with an American accent which even slightly bleeds into my Chinese. I can also speak conversational Italian since my fiancee is Italian which I think is somewhat important, knowing a 2nd European langagauge in Europe.

 

Just want to flip the table to the other side . How do Americans (presumably the ones working in Finance i.e New York )  view the British Accent(the RP one) . Do they think its a shitty one or they view it as more polite and superior one

 

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