postr/StutterMay 31, 2016

I had a job interview

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Content

I had a job interview I had a job interview for a Tier 3 Technical Support position with a major telecommunications company. It was my first interview since graduating college. I have been stuttering my whole life, but recently it had gotten worse. I got a call for an interview after submitting my resume. The 3 days leading up to the interview involved hours upon hours of rehearsing behavioral and technical questions to myself. This REALLY helped. I went on Glassdoor.com and read a lot of the interview questions that were asked for my position during the interview. I rehearsed my responses many, many, many, times. At the interview, I started stuttering right off the bat. Basically, I would stutter on one question, then the next question I would not stutter, then the next question I would stutter. After I began to stutter on my fifth question, I simply stopped the interview for a second and said, "Hey, I just want to go ahead and address it, I have a speech impediment. I stutter. It has not affected me in my past jobs and I can promise you that it won't affect me in this job". The interviewers response was, "Hey, I simply thought you were nervous. I didn't think much of it :) ". He was a pretty chill guy. After the interview, he said he wanted to go ahead and get me a second interview. So I interviewed with a second manager and at this point, my stuttering kinda calmed down because I was comfortable now. I still had blocks though, just not as frequent. Also, several of the questions that I rehearsed for were asked during the interviews and it REALLY helped me, as far as being confident and not stuttering as much. A few days later, I received a phone call and was told that I received the position! I want to mention, a few things though. The days leading up to the interview, I had a million thoughts going through my head. I had a lot of doubts. I had a lot of anxiety about the interview. Then, the day of the interview, I got there early. I sat in my car for 20 minutes and I was terrified of walking into the building. I thought about just driving away. However, I went through the motions and walked into the building and just did it. I ignored my fears and THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO. Simply ignore your fears. Here's the cherry on top. The job is in a call center environment. Does this suck? Yes. I wish it weren't a call center. However, fuck it. Ignore your fears. Maybe the constant talking will help my speech. I won't quit though. If I end up not being able to talk on the phone with customers, due to stuttering, then they can fire me. I won't quit, though.

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceEmotional ExperienceSchool & Work

Subthemes

Preparation & RehearsalAnticipating StutteringAvoidance & SubstitutionAnxiety & Social JudgmentEmployment & Career

Codes (2)

telephone_videotime_pressure