Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What should I do?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 155 posts

Re: Ask HN: What should I do?

#51

Post by mryan »

edw519 wrote: post #39

When you greet your interviewer, hand them this card: |=================================| | | | Hi, I'm John Doe and I'm happy | | to meet you. | | | | I have a stammer, but we should | | not let that interfere with our | | conversation. | | | | I'm an excellent web developer | | and I love what I do. My speech | | impediment does not affect my | | work. | | | | What can I do for you? | | | |=========================…

How about having this discussion in the preliminary emails? Take the card too, but let them know in advance so it is less of a surprise at interview time.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do?

#52

Post by CiaranMcNulty »

Out of interest, do you tell people in advance?

I've interviewed a person with a stammer and the recruiter had mentioned it beforehand, so we got over the initial discomfort very quickly and carried on as normal.

And yes, £15k with 3 years experience is LOW.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do?

#53

Post by gee_totes »

edw519 wrote: post #39

When you greet your interviewer, hand them this card: |=================================| | | | Hi, I'm John Doe and I'm happy | | to meet you. | | | | I have a stammer, but we should | | not let that interfere with our | | conversation. | | | | I'm an excellent web developer | | and I love what I do. My speech | | impediment does not affect my | | work. | | | | What can I do for you? | | | |=========================…

Not gonna work for initial phone interviews....

Re: Ask HN: What should I do?

#54

Post by mikecarroll »

Mention it in your cover letter when you apply and pass it off as a strength, not a weakness--show what you, from your experiences with your stammer understand about using web development to communicate with users that other developers just wouldn't naturally understand.

Then, when you go get invited for an interview, make sure you control the variables of the situation beforehand: remind the person who schedules the interview that you have a stammer and ask if you can bring a tablet computer to use to help communicating with the interviewer (or something similar that would work). If you set the rules for how the interview proceeds beforehand, it should give you control of the situation and show that you are in control of being able to communicate and work successfully despite the stammer.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do?

#55

Post by jborden13 »

darkxanthos wrote: post #31
edent wrote: post #13

1) Yes, you are vastly underpaid. (Unless it's 3 years with FrontPage Pro!) 2) Apply for big companies / public sector. They have massive HR departments who will send you an equal opportunities form. Disclose your disability and ask for support during the interview. That should help them prepare for you - they will also have the budget to support you if you do get the job and require extra help. 3) Build a portfolio.…

Dreadful BO OR murdering kittens would seriously be a deal breaker. If I can't stand sitting near you or looking at you we're gonna have a bad time.

Steve Jobs apparently had horrid BO (not sure about his affinity for cat murder).

Re: Ask HN: What should I do?

#56

Post by southphillyman »

Wow kind of surprised by this. I worked with a project manager who stuttered...and his job was literally to talk to clients. Also worked with a tech lead who stuttered AND spoke in a heavy chinese accent...and he would give 2 hour lunch and learns and no one batted an eye. Anecdotal of course, but I'd think software would be the one place where this wouldn't be a problem. Sometimes I feel like business analyst and technical analyst have jobs solely to communicate for engineers lol.

Anyway maybe during interviews you should tell the interviewer that you are stuttering because you are nervous due to the pressure of the interview and that your communication skills are improved around people you are comfortable with/relaxed environments.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do?

#57

Post by eksith »

Legitimately, no one can or should refuse to hire you or give you a raise for the quality of your work due to the stammer. That's outright discrimination. But as you've seen, that's how some jerks act when they know they can take advantage of you.

There was a brilliant invention I saw a while ago that replays your own speech to you at a slight delay through headphones. This forces you to listen to your words as you speak and so you slow down to catch up to it. Over time, this improves your speech to a point where you may be able to leave the headphones behind and speak without aid.

I wish I knew what the invention was called or even where it's available, but hopefully someone here has heard of the same. This is the only device I've seen so far to actually cause near-instant improvement in speech.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do?

#60

Post by andyhmltn »

alinajaf wrote: post #15

You're getting screwed at £15k, I've never been paid that little for developing web. For reference, my salary history over my 6+ year career is as follows: £20k->£26k->£45k->£450-£600/day Note that I am a totally average developer, nowhere near as smart or knowledgable as a lot of the guys here on HN. I have a CS degree, barely (I got a 3rd), so that helped at the beginning, but most of my luck has been thanks to an…

Slightly off topic, (Sorry OP) but as an 18 y/o with quite a bit of freelance/past experience, does £20k starting sound good to you?
Post reply on HN