Stuttering Does Not Have to Get in the Way of Your Job Search

Severe stuttering might prevent people from communicating effectively using verbal speech. Just because you stutter, that doesn't mean you're a liability, nor does it mean you can't be valuable to an employer. Read these tips if you're on a job search but are afraid your stuttering might limit your options.

Invest in Your Future

Learn new skills by taking classes, attending seminars or brushing up on an in-demand skill. Consider signing up for leadership training, coding classes, company-sponsored classes or formal college courses as a way to elevate your skills and mitigate any perceived weaknesses others may have during your job search. The difficulty with employers is that some of them may see severe stuttering as an impediment that makes you seem less capable of performing the job, even though this is anything but the truth. Upgrading your skills shows a future employer that you mean business.

Targeted Networking

As part of your job search process, try to build one-on-one professional relationships with people who are influential within your industry. Meet these people online or at industry events. Develop these relationships over informal lunches, informational meetings or casual get-togethers. During a one-on-one casual conversation, you might feel more at ease and relaxed, as this scenario is much less intimidating than meeting with a room full of strangers for a job interview. When you relax, you focus on the person in front of you and your conversation with them. This feeling might cause you to stutter less or make your stuttering less apparent.

Focus on Results

Focus on your results during a job search. Employers love hard numbers that you can prove. If you led a team of 10 people who increased sales by 20 percent for three straight quarters, use this information to impress hiring managers. Your sales leadership abilities outweigh any perceived weakness an employer may have. If an employer is initially concerned with your stuttering, he'll change his mind once you point out key results in your performance reviews that show how you added value and increased your employer's ROI in a previous position.

Highlight your achievements and accomplishments in cover letters, resumes, online portfolios and on LinkedIn. Bring them up again during interviews and when speaking to people at networking events.

Come Up With Conversation Topics

Prepare topics of conversation before meeting people. Think of three things you want to know about a person or organization ahead of meeting someone during your job search journey or before a networking event. These can be milestones, accomplishments or pertinent skills. Preparing ahead of time reduces your nervous feelings and helps you to relax. Again, relaxing is one technique that helps minimize stuttering.

Do not let stuttering ruin your job search, because stuttering doesn't define you as a person. This impediment has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence or ability. Like any other candidate, you have to target specific facets of your professional experience and skills to enhance your standing with an employer.

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