Case study · Language employability and certification

English for consultants: how can employability, client situations and TOEIC certification be linked?

Q: How can TOEIC preparation be built into corporate training?

By linking it to the programme rather than substituting it for the programme. The preparation familiarises participants with the skills and constraints of the test, and Linguaphone organises the certification sitting. Sessions continue to focus on effectiveness in client situations, which remains the main operational goal.

Q: How can business English and French as a foreign language be combined in one programme?

By applying the same principles to both languages and giving the client a common follow-up framework. This organisation simplifies management while meeting two employability needs: working in an international context and enabling international staff to work effectively in French.

Q: Which English training for consultants working with international clients?

Training built on their real interactions: framing a meeting, presenting progress, explaining a recommendation, handling an objection, rephrasing a technical point, writing a deliverable. The organisation stays flexible enough to absorb diary changes linked to assignments.

For an IT services company, English is not a peripheral skill: it comes into client relations, project meetings, presenting solutions, deliverables and collaboration with international teams. The level has to be usable on assignment and, in some contexts, demonstrated by a recognised certification.

In short

Language employability rests on three elements that need to be linked: the situations met on assignment, the skills to develop and the proof of level expected. Linguaphone first defines these situations, then chooses the certification, not the other way round. The certification complements the programme; it does not replace practice in communicating on assignment.

The starting point

The initial challenge

Consultants alternate between assignments, client meetings and production work, and their availability can change quickly. International staff also need professional French to integrate into teams and projects, and the client wanted to bring these needs together in a single framework.

Preparation focused on the TOEIC alone would leave out the real interactions of an assignment. A professional programme that ignored the test format would not meet the certification need either.

The challenge to solve

Adapting sessions to the constraints of consultants on assignment
Working on project meetings, client presentations and deliverables
Including targeted TOEIC preparation
Organising the certification sitting
Offering English and French as a foreign language paths within the same programme

Language: English, French as a foreign language and four other languages, with TOEIC certification
Audience: Consultants and engineers in an international environment
Expressed need: Working in English and demonstrating their level with the TOEIC

Our answer

The solution deployed

Sessions reproduce the consultant's professional tasks: framing a meeting, presenting progress, explaining a recommendation, handling an objection or writing a deliverable, with vocabulary learnt through these interactions. TOEIC preparation fits into this programme without replacing it, and the same follow-up framework covers both the English and the French as a foreign language paths.

Management

Sessions adjusted to the shifting diaries of consultants on assignment
TOEIC sitting organised for the relevant profiles
One programme for both the English and French as a foreign language paths
Attendance tracking shared with the training coordinator

Teaching

Real situations: project meetings, client presentations, deliverables
TOEIC preparation built into the programme, without replacing it
French as a foreign language for international staff, on the same principles
Flipped classroom to devote the session to practice

Remote
In person
TOEIC certification

Our method, step by step

The programme in figures

6
languages: 68%
of sessions held in person: 2 years
of evaluations tracked

The outcome

The results

Indicators for 2023 and 2024

92%
Overall satisfaction: 4.7/5
Trainer satisfaction: 93%
Recommendation rate

What this case shows

This case shows that job-specific language, certification and the integration of international staff can fit within a single programme. Employability then rests on three pillars: performance on assignment, an objective measure of level and professional integration.

Three conditions for success

1 Define the client situations the training must prepare for.
2 Treat certification as complementary proof, without reducing the programme to test practice.
3 Plan an organisation flexible enough to absorb diary changes linked to assignments.

Facing the same challenge? the programme should be designed starting from the assignments and the level of proof expected. The choice of certification comes next, consistent with the uses and the HR decisions it is meant to support.

I enjoyed being able to expand my vocabulary and discover new thought leaders through the videos and articles we looked at with the trainer. I also really liked practising for the TOEIC test. End-of-course evaluation · consulting and technology

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How can TOEIC preparation be built into corporate training?

How can business English and French as a foreign language be combined in one programme?

Which English training for consultants working with international clients?

Go further

How we measure: every figure on this page comes from the end-of-course evaluations completed by learners (2023 and 2024). Trainer satisfaction is the average of four criteria (delivery, listening, encouragement, clarity); the recommendation rate is the share of ratings of 4 or 5 out of 5. This case study is illustrative: the client is not named and is described in deliberately general terms.

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