Improve your Business English so your your communication skills and confidence are not a barrier for you to compete for and secure the best roles for you.
‘One of my biggest issues in getting a job in the US is my Business English. I feel like I need to improve it to compete with my peers’ (Indian Engineering Masters student, California, USA)
‘My masters course doesn’t have practical tools to help me actually see what jobs in related sectors would be like and practice for interview success. My communication skills in Business English definitely need to improve’ (Hungarian Banking & Finance Student, London, UK)
Business English is the type of English used in professional contexts, such as international trade, government, professional services, and many office settings. It requires clarity, particular vocabulary, and grammatical structures. Like any business language mastery, it involves the ability to listen, speak, read and write in a manner that is fit for the professional environment.
Numerous academic studies have shown that a lack of confidence in spoken English amongst non-native speakers can have negative effects on academic performance, cultural assimilation and job chances. Given all the time and investment spent by so many to travel across the world to improve their professional outcomes, it is a real shame if Business English is something that lets students down.
The trouble is that the focus of current English language training is too often academic or social/conversational. It does not prepare international students (and many other learners) for the workplace. Being able to talk with colleagues in a café or restaurant is not the same as taking the lead in client presentations.
In order to be career ready, international students must combine great logic with excellent language skills. So this doesn’t mean just knowing the answer to a problem in your head but being able to communicate the answer in a pithy and eloquent manner that allows you to have maximum impact.
The concern amongst many international students is that the way they say things limits their effectiveness in interviews despite them having good knowledge of the problem at hand. We don’t think it is fair and want to democratise access to effective Business English.
This is where Elevator by Think Smart comes in. We provide real-world problems straight from those working in the job right now. Content will come from employees and alumni of Fortune 500 firms as well as top tier professional services firm (Consulting, Law, VC, PE and more) and prestigious start-ups. For example, want to try your hand at turning around Unilever’s business in South East Asia, explaining it and then seeing how the VP for that region did it? Great, you have come to the right place!
We will ask you to try your hand at solving them. Once you have completed a problem, it’s time to talk us through your rationale and logic. You can record a voice note (just like Whatsapp) or video if you’d like. Once you submit it to us, you can then see what the pro would have said. You’ll be able to listen to their voice note or watch the video clip of them explaining the correct answer to the problem. You can then rate yourself and see where you may wish to practice more and make improvements.
All the clips you have made and received from others can be saved to your own playlist – just like Spotify. You can make playlists for yourself on job areas – like Product Management or Consulting – and also on types of problem such as teamwork situations, difficult conversations, explaining growth strategies and so on.
By seeing how the professionals say it allows you to see and hear on repeat how those who are successful in the job think about things and talk about them. This allows for plenty of preparation and practice to put you ahead of your peers.
We are building the product now and it will be available soon. To be top of the list in order to receive access to the platform first, please sign up now for free @ https://elevator.thinksmart.careers/users/sign_up
You can also email us at [email protected] in order to tell us which industries or areas you’d like content for first!
Study in Australia
Study in Canada
Study in Germany
Study in United Kingdom
Study in USA
Study in Switzerland