<p>Hello, I am currently a junior majoring in Finance at a top 30 ranked business school. I am very shy when it comes to public speaking. I think it mostly comes from having an accent. I’m Mexican-American but Spanish was the first language I learned and I was never able to loose the accent. It’s not a very thick accent, but it still makes me feel that out of place.</p>
<p>I’m better in one on one interviews just the public speaking is what scares me. Will having an accent be a disadvantage in the business world in any way?</p>
<p>Unless your accent is thick to the point of where others have trouble understanding what you’re saying it won’t be that big of a problem. You’re going to have a disadvantage with certain types of people(People who hate spanish speaking people and the like) and advantages with others(Spanish speakers may like you more for having the accent).</p>
<p>The way I see it, you’ve probably got bigger factors to worry about.</p>
<p>As long as someone doesn’t have a super thick accent, I usually have no problems understanding what someone is saying. Being native english, I don’t need to understand every syllable to piece together words. I don’t see much discrimination because you have an accent.</p>