Non-native English speakers stand to gain a lot by using tools like EnglishBrain.
A rigorous study from MIT released in 2023 studied 480,948 jobseekers and found that using a writing assistant software tool when creating their resumés led to an 8% increase in both getting hired and in wages earned.
This study included both native and non-native English speakers. If you are a non-native speaker reading this post, you stand even more to gain. Imagine earning 20% more, just because you start using a tool to automatically improve your English writing.
If you earn $40,000 USD in a year, you could be earning $48,000.
Imagine you are hiring someone for a job as an assistant. Let’s say you receive the following letter from two different people: one on the left, and one on the right. Choose the button with the language you are most familiar with:
Who would you hire?
Hiring managers reading the resumés were able to build confidence that the applicant with perfect writing skills would do a good job when hired. They likely both believed that strong writing skills would lead to better job performance, and also simply found it easier to vet a candidate with stronger writing skills.
This study is not the only one with similar findings. A 2021 study by Hong, Peng, Burtch, and Huang showed that applicants who send direct messages to hiring managers are more likely to get hired, but the effect is diminished when the applicants’ messages contain errors.
As someone who runs my own business, I often hire hourly workers on digital work marketplaces like UpWork or OnlineJobs.ph (a Philippine job board). When I post an international job opportunity, I am usually overwhelmed with dozens of applications. There is no way I would be able to read 50 applications in detail, so my first filter is often, “How strong is their English communication?”
I filter on this criteria primarily because I know it will be harder for me to easily read and understand unclear, ambiguously worded English. And if it’s harder on a resume screen, it will be even harder when we’re trying to work together day after day.
Of course, I’m sure this approach results in me losing very many good candidates that simply don’t have perfect English skills.
These studies and anecdotes only talk about the very beginning: the first impression you're making when you present a resume or meet someone new. But the effects of non-native English can compound. If you are day in and day out perceived to be communicating less clearly and less effectively, your boss may pass you over for a promotion. Your new social friend may choose to not invite you to the next dinner party. You may miss opportunities you never knew existed.
I grew up surrounded by this glass ceiling. My immigrant parents have been asking me to proofread and rewrite their important emails and text messages since I was in high school. The communities I grew up with were full of smart, talented Lithuanians - but I’ve observed that breaking through the language barrier in a native English society like the US (and, increasingly, the entire digital world) is not an easy task.
Technology won’t solve the whole problem. But it can help you make a tangible first step. That’s why I built EnglishBrain, the app that rewrites your messages in perfect English. Now, instead of asking me to fix one or two emails per month, my parents can ask EnglishBrain to correct five messages a day. They can build more respect among their coworkers and team members, network more efficiently with their social peers, and
And you don’t have to rely on EnglishBrain forever. Learn from it. As you send messages to it, learn its patterns. Why does it sound so polished? How can you consistently match its perfect punctuation? Don’t just blindly copy/paste, and you’ll find yourself writing naturally more like EnglishBrain in no time.
EnglishBrain rewrites your SMS/WhatsApp and email drafts in perfect English.