Employment/Interview
Hi, my name is Grace Kelley and I am currently a second year master’s student at BGSU. This semester we have a course on stuttering, so we have had the opportunity to explore therapy/assessment/etc. and have even done a project simulation where we went into the community and stuttered when interacting with strangers to get even just a glimpse of what our clients might be feeling. However, we did not go into the perspective of interviewing for a job. What has been your experience, as a PWS, when interviewing for a job/role? What are some ways you prepared yourself, but maybe also the interviewer in regards to your stuttering? What is some advice you have for an SLP who is trying to help a student/client with preparing for an interview situation? I appreciate any feedback you may have.
Hello Grace
Thank you for your wonderful question.
My experience as a PWS in the work place includes:
1) Being told by an interviewer that no one would ever hire me (because I stutter)
2) Avoiding going to job interviews when I was dissatisfied in my job and wanted a change
3) Avoiding speaking to people at work because I was ashamed of my stuttering (resulting in inefficient work, and huge frustration within me that sometimes came out as anger)
Advice that I would give includes:
1) The PWS has to be taught that stuttering is OK. Focus in therapy must never be on fluency, but on knowing that the problem is stigma and not stuttering, and knowing how to differentiate between primary characteristics of stuttering and the secondary characteristics that manifest because of our struggle.
2) The PWS should disclose their stuttering at the start of the interview. Disclosure is difficult but it is liberating. We remove the “elephant from the room”. I am less anxious about my stuttering being discovered, and the interviewer now knows what is going on. This already makes a huge difference in the interview.
3) Related to the above is to avoid trying to hide the stuttering.
4) When disclosing stuttering, do so in a factual, non-apologetic way.
5) Offer to answer any questions about stuttering, and tell the interviewer that the stuttering will not interfere with the job (because what we have to say is what’s important, rather than how we say it)
6) Move on the interview.
All this is not trivial, but these are the basic guidelines
It is recommended to NOT mention stuttering in the job application. The reason is that, due to stigma and discrimination, it becomes very easy for an interviewer to not reject an application, and they don’t have to give any explanation.
I hope this helps. If my explanation is lacking, please reply and tell me/us what needs to be clarified.
Hanan Hurwitz
Hi Grace
What great questions! This shows you’re going to become a fantastic SLP and a great support for PWS.
How did you feel about voluntary stuttering and what were the reactions?
As a teen I wanted to travel, become a (cruise) host, a vet or a police officer. I was told not to pursue further studies as I wasn’t getting any job anyway.
Traveling? Forget it. You can’t speak.
Vet? Look at your grades. (I got straight A’s when going back to school in my 30s to face the demons of the past, and got a job as a teacher.)
Police officer? Yes, you got through all the tests, but noone will take you seriously.
After the years of bullying, being put down and now hearing this, I tried to end my life.
Until
I was headhunted for a job because of my language skills.
I was headhunted for a teaching job, teaching teachers.
I was headhunted for an organisational and teaching job, because of my skills and personality.
Yes, I was also denied a job working at an airport and as a bailiff because of my stutter, but to be honest, those weren’t really the jobs I wanted, just applied for any job for a while.
See, not every job is for everyone. To say a PWS should get any job is not reality. Putting me in a garden store is to put a vegan in an abattoir. But PWS don’t always stutter. I know PWS who use the phone a lot, as they don’t stutter on the phone. On the other hand, a job interview sucks even for fluent people, so most of the PWS who go through this really think they are capable, have always fought to be better than the best as they know they have to. So to hire a PWS can be your most dedicated employee.
I used to prepare by talking about my stutter, as it’s noticable and hiding I would pretend to be something which might hit me later. So not apologizing, just slipping it into the conversation. F ex
What are your best assets?
Because of my stutter I’ve learned to be resilient, work hard… etc.
This opens the door for them to ask questions and see that stuttering is not a problem for me, so it might not be for them either. And even better: to openly speak about it shows my strength.
I didn’t mention it directly in my application, as there are way too many hoaxes that people still believe, so I wanted them to meet me first. But did mention I was a board member for the XXX (not mentioning what the abbreviation was for, so they would become curious and want to see me, which worked ;-)), a youth camp leader, etc.
In short, prepare, f ex through joining test interview sessions with @millionvoices, designed for PWS. Use @withVR, a tool to put your client in a stressful situation and practice together. And most of all, let your client be the salesman of his skills, with stuttering simply being something that’s there, but not defining him.
Keep them talking
Anita