The French grading scale: Why average is good, and good is perfect

May 05th 2007

In my last blog, Writing in English, and misinterpretations by the French I wrote about cultural blunders. Another example, call it a blunder or just being naive I’m not sure:

Several years ago during a job interview I was asked to rate my Java level from 1-20. Although I was pretty confident of my Java knowledge, I wasn’t going to say I was perfect. But I didn’t want to say average either. In the US, a grade of 75/100 is average and not really anything to be proud of, so I wasn’t going to say 15/20. Remember all this analysis was taking place in just a few seconds, with the pressure of an interview! So I said “18”.

What I didn’t know was that in France, an 18 is near perfect and it’s very rare (almost impossible) to get more than 18. (French teachers reserve scores above 18 for when and if God comes down and takes a class.) So when I said 18/20 I thought I was claiming to be above average but in fact I was claiming to be perfect! This resulted in the interviewer trying his best to find things I didn’t know instead of focusing on what I knew and at what level.

I think this is a perfect example of how things can be totally different in France, yet until you come across it you have no idea. I think these kinds of experiences keep life Fresh and interesting. So what happened during the interview? The CEO was still interested but for other reasons I decided to stay at my company. If this question ever comes up again, I’ll probably reply 16/20 so that I don’t appear so egoistic. Even if I really am 18/20 (perfect)!! Just kidding.

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