Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Work and Employment > Job Search
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-13-2011, 11:57 AM
 
Location: Southern Minnesota
5,984 posts, read 13,348,991 times
Reputation: 3365

Advertisements

OK, so I have this friend who keeps getting turned down for jobs in his field. This person has a bachelor's degree (with a high GPA), as well as almost two years of relevant, albeit contract-based, work experience. Although he has no problem getting interviews, they never result in job offers. I think it is because he has a severe stuttering problem, which he has had since birth. I feel that many employers disqualify this person simply because of his speech impediment, even though he does not work in a speech-intensive field, such as sales.

Employers, would you even consider hiring an applicant who stutters? Why or why not? Also, what advice would you give to my friend on searching for a permanent position?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-13-2011, 12:42 PM
 
Location: The Triad
34,091 posts, read 82,438,418 times
Reputation: 43642
Quote:
Originally Posted by northstar22 View Post
OK, so I have this friend who keeps getting turned down for jobs in his field.
What is his field?

Quote:
Employers, would you even consider hiring an applicant who stutters? Why or why not?
If the work involves verbal communication of any consequence or on a regular basis and especially if that involves prospective customers rather than internal staff... then stuttering would reasonably seem to preclude an applicant to do these.

Quote:
Also, what advice would you give to my friend on searching for a permanent position?
Something that DOESN'T depend on verbal communication of any consequence to be effective in the work.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-13-2011, 01:03 PM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,338 posts, read 93,407,924 times
Reputation: 17827
Quote:
Originally Posted by northstar22 View Post
. Although he has no problem getting interviews, they never result in job offers.
Yet.

Lot of people with superb qualifications - and no speech impediment - are in the same boat as we have read on this forum.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-13-2011, 02:53 PM
 
18,837 posts, read 37,198,257 times
Reputation: 26457
I would, especially if he has documentation of his disability from vocational rehabilitation...for the tax credits.

I am assuming he does work like, computer programming, or some sort of work that does not require interaction and alot of speech on a daily basis.

Note, with that paperwork, he has PREFERENCE for federal jobs!

Last edited by jasper12; 06-13-2011 at 02:54 PM.. Reason: edit
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-13-2011, 10:06 PM
 
4,796 posts, read 22,833,498 times
Reputation: 5046
Has he always had problems getting jobs? Even part-time jobs in high school and college? If not, then I would say it is not his speech impediment.

As stated above, there are millions of people looking for work right now, and for most it is taking upwards of a year to land something. Your friend has to expect that it will take that long, no different than anyone else.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-13-2011, 10:47 PM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,066 posts, read 80,100,596 times
Reputation: 56846
For most of the positions I hire if he were the best qualified it wouldn't matter, as verbal communication is not frequent and is limited to co-workers.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-14-2011, 07:04 AM
 
4,471 posts, read 9,800,438 times
Reputation: 4354
The Planner in my department has a sever lisp. He does a great job and after a while you stop noticing.

When I was an intern someone who worked for IT has a very very bad stutter that sounded like she was crying all the time. That was something you couldn't not notice.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-14-2011, 08:22 AM
 
Location: Ayrsley
4,713 posts, read 9,655,325 times
Reputation: 3824
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational View Post
If the work involves verbal communication of any consequence or on a regular basis and especially if that involves prospective customers rather than internal staff... then stuttering would reasonably seem to preclude an applicant to do these.
This. As long as his job did not involve giving frequent presentations or spending hours upon hours verbally communicating with clients and leading meetings, its a non-issue. If verbal communication skills are a main requirement, then that is a different matter. In my field, there is frequently a lot of technical, written communication - doesn't matter how well-qualified an applicant is, if they have poor writing / grammatical skills, I cannot consider them.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-25-2012, 04:50 PM
 
Location: Northside Of Jacksonville
3,337 posts, read 7,090,952 times
Reputation: 3464
Reasonable accommodations should be made to ensure qualified speech-impaired employees are able to be successful in their jobs. Your friend should consider it a blessing he didn't get hired by that company, because if they aren't willing to work around his stuttering then that's not a company he needs to work for. I would hire the best qualified applicant and stuttering WOULD NOT be a factor. I'd simply ask what reasonable acommodations would he/she like for me to make to ensure they are successful.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-25-2012, 06:23 PM
 
Location: Wartrace,TN
7,880 posts, read 12,589,105 times
Reputation: 16077
Air traffic controller probably not, anything that doesn't involve effective and timely communication then I wouldn't consider that a factor in the hiring decision at all.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Work and Employment > Job Search

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top