Ask HN: What should I do?

In the UK, salary figures are always gross (pun not intended).

Posts like this makes me wish I was born in a first-world country. I'd be lucky to be earning half of what this guy's making.

Yay! Another stuttering dev here on HN! I have a stammer too (stutter here in the US); you're not alone!

I'll bet that code tests in interviews really suck. I know that they suck for me.

I think alot of it is going to depend on interviewing with the right person. Keep trying, and eventually you'll find them. Also, if that doesn't work, you can always try to pick up totally remote freelance work, but if you're looking for full-time, you should be able to find it.

One thing that may really help is getting an introduction from a friend (or a recruiter) to any companies you're interviewing for. I got one job with a conversation that went like this:

My friend: "Well, I have someone for you, but he has a pretty bad stutter"

Employer: "As long as he's smart and can get the job done, I don't care if he talks backwards!"

And I got the job.

Real employers (who aren't skeezy and exploitative like your current ones) don't care how you talk, they just want someone who can get the job done. And those are the people you should be working for.

In some ways, you can think of the above as a positive selection filter. Imagine all the non-stuttering schmucks who are out there working for skeezy employers who care more about how people talk than who can get the job done (and imagine how shitty the management must be if their hiring is not based on people's skills).

In closing, I know this turned into kind of a rant without any really good advice, but I just wanted to give a solidarity shout out to another stuttering dev here on HN.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to drive-by down vote all the commenters who are like "herp derp why don't you just stop stammering"

This sounds simple, but the key is to avoid phone interviews. I'm terrible on the phone as well, and when I was looking for my last job I thought about this a lot. Looking back, I had received a job offer about 90% of the time when I had a face to face interview, but for phone interviews it was more like 10%. With that in mind, I focused on getting in person interviews the last time and found that even if someone asks for a phone interview, often you can ask/convince them to do a in-person. This might mean you have to travel on your own (or maybe they'll pay for it), but by knowing your previous rate of success you can focus on getting the job you want.

Hello,

1) Get great at what you do. Nothing helps to open doors like a great portfolio and great track record of success.

2) Maximize the things you can do non-verbally. You are lucky that you are in the Web Dev industry and are not something like a car salesman which would require a lot more verbal communication. For example: * Write articles for websites such as Smashing Magazine. * Contribute to open source projects on Github. * Start a mailing list offering great web development knowledge and tips. * Start a web development blog.

3) Get really good at writing. If you don't speak well, make sure you write well. Your emails should always be professional and well written.

4) Freelance remotely. Through Email/GTalk/Skype Chat/Asana/Basecamphq you can communicate with clients non-verbally. Client will always want to touch base by phone at some point, but these great tools will greatly help reduce the amount of time you need to speak on the phone.

5) Work on improving your stammer. Invest in a Speech Therapist. This could be a life-long process but if your stammer is getting in the way of your career it is worth practicing on improving it every day. Don't ignore it, work at it like you are training for the Olympics. If your job can't give you a raise, perhaps they can pay for a Speech Therapist.

6) Finally, remember you are not alone. Everyone has disabilities and your situation is not unlike people who are very shy or who have social anxiety and who try and avoid face to face conversations. Find similar people to yourself and share tips and advise and help each other.

Good luck my friend!