The problem
US tech culture is performatively egalitarian: engineers call VPs by first name, and interviews are framed as two-way professional conversations between peers. Into this walks 'sir', 'ma'am', 'kindly', 'as per your requirement' — register that signals respect in India but reads, to a US interviewer, as hierarchy-seeking. The practical cost: it frames you as a subordinate awaiting instruction in a conversation specifically designed to evaluate whether you operate as a peer. None of this is fair to candidates trained that formality is professionalism. It is, however, how the signal lands.
The key insight
The target register is composed directness: first names ('Thanks, Sarah'), plain requests ('Could you clarify the scope?' not 'Kindly elaborate'), and confident declaratives without softening prefixes ('I'd approach it this way' not 'As per my understanding, sir, I would humbly suggest'). The shift is not toward casualness — it is toward the register US colleagues use with each other. Composed, direct, warm. Deference markers get read as junior; composed directness gets read as senior. That mapping is the whole game.
Before and after
Same intent: clarify, then act. The second version is shorter, peer-register, and contains an actual point of view (the success-metric focus). Notice nothing about it is rude.
How Arpan helps
Arpan gives you the feedback that solo practice can't. The free Diagnostic scores your answers across Ownership Language, Quantified Impact, STAR Structure, Conciseness, Engagement, and Professional Tone — the exact dimensions US hiring managers evaluate — and delivers word-for-word rewrites of every answer so you can see the gap clearly. Pro turns that into a practice loop: every answer rewritten across 25 voice interviews and 5 on camera over 90 days, pattern detection that surfaces which habits are costing you points, and your Cultural Readiness Score™ after every session, so you can see where the score moves.
FAQ
What do I call the interviewer?
Is being direct considered rude in the US?
Is this about English fluency?
Get started
Hear yourself the way a US hiring manager does.
In 5 minutes, you will hear yourself the way a US hiring manager does. Pick from five interviewers — engineering managers at Big Tech, at Mid-size Tech, at a Series B startup, and at a Global Capability Center, plus an engineering director at a US tech company — then answer as many behavioral questions as the time allows. Arpan scores your answers across six dimensions, shows you exactly where each one lands, and gives you word-for-word rewrites of every answer so you can see the gap clearly. No payment, no commitment.
Start the free Diagnostic →