Any FOBs out here? How do you deal with the insecurities surrounding our english skills and the perception of us being culturally/socially inept? I’m in a mid-size firm and I feel like an alien.

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So I came to this country when I was 13. The American borns think of me as a FOB because I wasn’t born here and don’t know a lot of the references. The true “FOBs” who came here much older don’t think of me as a FOB and think I’m Americanized because I’ve lost the native accent. I’m literally in no man’s land. I’ve been in this country for 16 years and I still feel out of place with everyone, everyday.

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AS1 & PwC 2, leverage your in betweenness. People like us, who have significant cultural and emotional understanding of two or more populations, are actually critical to the success of global firms. In same manner that we feel like we will never competed fit in, two completely native individuals will always have difficultly working together without an intermediary.

Good business opportunities arise when you exist in this space too.

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Feeling like the odd person out won’t go away, in my experience at least. Addressing your concerns doesn’t differ from what a native speaker would do; most associates feel out of place when starting out. You deal with it by asking questions without feeling shame, being energetic and assertive when asking for work, and by regularly providing a work product that is equal to or better than that of peers.

The fact that you were hired means you have potential, so don’t cut yourself short.

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I am not sure what that even means? I am a NYer and I act different than someone from another part of the country and they act different then me. There is no one way to Act American....although that is an interesting thread. .

Wear white t shirts under your dress shirts (men)
Wear jeans often
Keep your hair cut shorter (men)
Get braces for your teeth. More common for Americans to have had braces than other countries.

I guess these are more look like an American....

Join a b4, we have a lot of fobs ;)

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Does not change OP’s issue

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Really depends on who you work with too. I am US born, second generation American. However I am an ITS Partner and in my group in NYC I am close to a minority. We have lots of FOB. We are a real melting pot. We hire a lot of international students. I absolutely love it and we get super smart high quality people who have a great worldly view...but again, I wouldn’t be in ITS if that kind of thinking didn’t appeal to me.

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FOB destination?

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I'm a FOB and don't give a fuck about what other people think of me. Noone expects us to speak perfect english without an accent. As long as other people understand what you're saying and you can do the work, you should be fine. if you want to improve your english, my recommendation is to join toastmaster and read more articles in english. having a few close native speaker friends would also help

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Agree with TM1.

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What’s FOB?

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Everyone calm down. That was a joke to highlight the stupidity of the identity politics PC world we live in today. Of course it's a perfectly fine acronym.

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My sense is that people don't seem to mind it in our office. I know the FOBs are extremely self conscious, but as long as they're busting their ass, no one cares.

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