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From: Gunars
Date: 10/2/00
Time: 9:41:04 PM
Remote Name: 12.13.226.13
Bobby,
Firstly, let me congratulate you in raising a very good question. The question is appropriate for the theme of this conference on three counts: a)in this competitive day and age in order to get into some private schools a youngster will, probably, have to interview, b) many a teenager is also faced with job interviews, and c) most young people wonder if they will be hired by a top flight employer if they stutter (and may decide not to enter in a field from which they feel they might be excluded because of their stuttering during interviews).
The objective of a job interview is actually two fold: a) the interviewer wants to hire somebody to do a specific task for his company and b) the interviewee wants to find a job that he likes, will be aptly rewarded for, and will provide him an environment where he can flourish. In case of a school, the school wants to find a student who will do it honor and the student wants to find an environment which will prepare him to enter a good university, provide him with good learning opportunities and develop his or her social skills.
Since, not all stuttering is of equal severity and the paperwork might be first handled by people in the lower eschelons or people who are in extreme time pressure, who have been asked to narrow the search down to a few good candidates, I suggest not to indicate either on a school or a job application that one stutters. Above all, it is not important that you stutter. What is important is how adept you are at communicating.
Personally, I have handled dozens of job interviews both when I graduated, when I considered changing jobs, and every time that an assignment ended inside of the Boeing Company. In all of them, to the best of my memory, I said upfront that I stuttered, that it did not bother me (which in the early days was somewhat stretching of the truth :-)), that I hoped it would not bother the interviewer, and, matter of factly, added that I have not been handicapped in performing my job (or school) assignments in the past. Then I let the matter drop. This up front openness took a lot of pressure off of me, and reminded me not to try to be perfect speaker nor judge myself too harshly if I stuttered.
The most important part about a school interview or a job interview is preparation. Learn all you can about the school or company and about the job being offered. Asking intelligent questions about what will be expected of you and verifying what you will receive in return. In a good interview for a school or a job, the questions are shared equally between the interviewer and the interviewee.
By the way, most of the companies I interviewed offered me a job. Later in life, most of the positions I applied for were offerred to me. The rejections I received were of two kinds: a) I either did not make the grade technically or b) committed some other error as asking for too high of a salary. There are many other mistakes that can be made interviewing. Happily for me, I had read and talked enough about job interviews to know what to expect. There are a number of good books available in the preparation for and techniques of interviewing.
If you are turned down for a job or for a school, I think it is very, very important to try to call the person to find out what qualifications did the other applicants have that you did not have. Most of the time the other applicants showed more enthusiasm, had specific experience, fit their company image better, etc.
Gunars
p.s. I suggest that every school applicant and job applicant do role playing. I especially encourage this for the youngsters who are applying to private schools. In the role play you get somebody to play the interviewer and give you a hard time. :-) See how much pressure you can take. :-) And at the end of the role play, or during it, practice your unconditional self acceptance (regardless of whether you stutter or not).
Both Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and sports psychology encourage rational imagery, where you close your eyes, realax, and imagine yourself going through the interview. Imagine yourself getting in difficulties, but then pulling yourself together. The more detailed your imagery is the more capable you become of handling the situation in real time.
p.p.s. I wish you luck with the interviewing process. When I get time I will add more on Rational Imagery on my website at www.stuttering-therapy.com