How do people cope with interviews?

[hv1]

Dear All,

I'm wondering how people cope with job interviews. I have a series of them coming up and was wondering how people cope with them. I usually don't make a deal about it, but thats probably also because I stutter covertly and so tend to hide it anyway.

Take care,

Hiten

[Derek181]

you could always open it up with a joke about stuttering

[bathaluman]

when i am scheduled for an interview i practice a few days before. i anticipate the questions that would be asked. i come a little bit early so as to give time to calm myself first bec. when i panic my throath starts to get thight and sometimes the sounds doesn't come out clearly... when this happens i pause for a while to calm myself.

[Asusag]

Does anyone else have no problem with stuttering when they are in a high pressure scenario like an interview?

I'm usually quite fluent and (omg) charming in them.

It doesn't carry over to day to day stuff though, unfortunately.

[climberszen]

I always plainly state that I stutter.... I mean really it seems crazy to pretent there is not an issue.. it's not like they aren't going to notice.

[cccoffey]

Does anyone else have no problem with stuttering when they are in a high pressure scenario like an interview?

I'm usually quite fluent and (omg) charming in them.

It doesn't carry over to day to day stuff though, unfortunately.


Yeah, I'd agree... During the interview for my current job, I was very fluent, sociable, and charming as well. I was able to elaborate and express myself well. For the first couple of weeks, I was pretty fluent and I'm pretty sure no one in the office could tell that I stuttered. One day, I locked up in the middle of a group of people and I literally could not form a phrase for about a good hour... ever since then, getting up for work in the morning has been such a hassle!

In these past couple of months, it really has hit me hard to see the effects that stuttering has had on me, someone who consider(s/ed) themself to be a covert stutterer. I'll avoid conversation sometimes, mope around in the morning in fear for the day ahead and spend soo much time thinking about what can go wrong with my speech that day. It's weird because during the school year, I'm usually pretty fluent, but I guess in the pressure situation, when I've already been "discovered" (so to speak), my stuttering knows no boundaries.

[Mullen]

Yeah, I'd agree... During the interview for my current job, I was very fluent, sociable, and charming as well. I was able to elaborate and express myself well. For the first couple of weeks, I was pretty fluent and I'm pretty sure no one in the office could tell that I stuttered. One day, I locked up in the middle of a group of people and I literally could not form a phrase for about a good hour... ever since then, getting up for work in the morning has been such a hassle!



I had a similar experience with my first job. I interviewed for an accounting assistant position in a CPA office. Everything went smoothly and with the recommendations of some of my teachers I easily got the job. But within just a few days everyone knew I stuttered.

The firm was made up of about six or seven partners. I'd say three or four of them wanted to get rid of me on the spot and their behavior towards me showed it. The other three were the senior partners and they were more patient and empathetic towards me. I ended up working in the back of the office in a cubicle without a telephone and without any significant contact with the clients. Just being out of high school and not having much confidence in myself I accepted the situation, but after a couple of years it really started to bother me. And so I moved on.