Interviewing question - with a twist!
Discussion
I manage a small team at the moment and we are going through a bit of a tough time with all my team being made redundant. One of my team has cerebral palsy and, as with everyone else in the team, I am trying to get him placed in another role within the organisation to minimise the imapact it has on him (for reference - the organisation is a charity for disabled adults).
The application process is simple enough internally, just apply, have an interview and then get the nod or otherwise, but this one chap is relly struggling with the interviews and I just don't know how to help him.
His cerebral palsy means that he stutters very, very badly and forgets words when put in uncomfortable positions i.e. interviews or difficult phone conversations. He had one interview here last week in which it took him (from what I can gather from interviewer feedback) over and hour to get 50% through a 30 minute interview.
This impendiment is not so much of a problem when interviewing internally as everyone that works here knows him and understands, but he is going to need to look externally very soon (notice period is up in a few weeks) and he is very worried about it, so has come to me to ask for help on how to overcome it.
I am completely at a loss. I've never struggled with interviews as I am generally very confident but I've given him the normal advice that I would give anyone, - breathing steadily before answering, taking your time thinking about the answers, replace long words with short ones etc, but he has tried all this and still finds himself in difficulty. I've even said that setting the expectation at the beginning of the interview might be a wise move if he feels he will struggle, but I'm not so sure that this is good advice as it puts a bad tone on the situation from the get-go and will possibly reinforce the idea with him that he will struggle.
Obviously, I am going to refer him to someone who actually knows more about this than I do, but this is going to take time (possibly longer than he has) and I really want to get him sorted with a role asap. Does anyone have any advice that I could give him, just to give him a bit of a fighting chance of getting the immediate problem sorted?
The application process is simple enough internally, just apply, have an interview and then get the nod or otherwise, but this one chap is relly struggling with the interviews and I just don't know how to help him.
His cerebral palsy means that he stutters very, very badly and forgets words when put in uncomfortable positions i.e. interviews or difficult phone conversations. He had one interview here last week in which it took him (from what I can gather from interviewer feedback) over and hour to get 50% through a 30 minute interview.
This impendiment is not so much of a problem when interviewing internally as everyone that works here knows him and understands, but he is going to need to look externally very soon (notice period is up in a few weeks) and he is very worried about it, so has come to me to ask for help on how to overcome it.
I am completely at a loss. I've never struggled with interviews as I am generally very confident but I've given him the normal advice that I would give anyone, - breathing steadily before answering, taking your time thinking about the answers, replace long words with short ones etc, but he has tried all this and still finds himself in difficulty. I've even said that setting the expectation at the beginning of the interview might be a wise move if he feels he will struggle, but I'm not so sure that this is good advice as it puts a bad tone on the situation from the get-go and will possibly reinforce the idea with him that he will struggle.
Obviously, I am going to refer him to someone who actually knows more about this than I do, but this is going to take time (possibly longer than he has) and I really want to get him sorted with a role asap. Does anyone have any advice that I could give him, just to give him a bit of a fighting chance of getting the immediate problem sorted?
cwis said:
Fairly daft question - but can you sort out some role play?
Speaking as an Aspergent - nothing adds confidence for a task more than actually doing the task - even in practice with people you know.
Best of luck to you both.
Thanks for the reply. Speaking as an Aspergent - nothing adds confidence for a task more than actually doing the task - even in practice with people you know.
Best of luck to you both.
I have done mock interviews with him and have approached them from being 'the timid interviewer' through to basically trying to tear him a new one, just to get him used to all eventualities, but he is absolutely fine with me.
It's such a difficult situation as I know he is capable, more than capable, of doing the roles he's going for, but he just falters at the final hurdle. Wish I could do the interviews for him! Think they might notice the difference between a 6'4", 29 year old at the interview and a 5'2", 56 year old on his first day though!
Just an idea, would he find it easier to do a phone or webcam interview? Could probably be considered a reasonable adjustment for a disability.
Just to add. Has he looked at these: http://medgadget.com/2007/01/speecheasy_earp.html
Just to add. Has he looked at these: http://medgadget.com/2007/01/speecheasy_earp.html
Sitting in on interviews would be one option, I'll raise it with him and see what his thoghts on it are. The last thing I want to do is to make an external interviewer think that he isn't capable though, but you are right in saying there can be special dispensation for people with disabilities so it's certainly an option, thank you.
I've not seen those earpieces before! I don't think that will help him in the interview situations as it's nerves and fear that almost paralyse him, but one of the guys in a colleagues team suffers from a permanent stutter, so I'll mention that to him!
I've not seen those earpieces before! I don't think that will help him in the interview situations as it's nerves and fear that almost paralyse him, but one of the guys in a colleagues team suffers from a permanent stutter, so I'll mention that to him!
Perhaps he could write a covering letter that highlights the challenges he has with traditional interview situations perhaps suggesting reasonable measures that could be put in place to make him feel more comfortable, (idle chit chat before the interview, chatting about football or some other interest perhaps or what ever would make him feel more at ease) or if you are very generous the suggestion could be made that you conduct the interview on behalf of the company to their guidelines with one of their representatives in attendance.
Jonboy_t said:
It's such a difficult situation as I know he is capable, more than capable, of doing the roles he's going for, but he just falters at the final hurdle.
Maybe provide him with an introductory letter for him to submit along with each job application? In the letter highlight his skills, abilities, experience and achievements at your company. Also add in a simple para regarding his personal circumstances and how he could be helped at interview. Finish off with a note to say that you would be happy to speak to a potential employer beforehand to help them best assess how to interview him.If he gets particularly nervous in front of new faces, then any role-play/practice needs to be done facing a new person rather than people he's familiar with.
Edited by 72EuropaTC on Wednesday 21st March 18:46
Most effective think I have found for things like this is to get it out of the way at the start of the interview, so that you're not thinking about it. Something like "Hello, I'm Bob. I'd just like to warn you, I do stutter quite a bit, but please bear with me and I'll get there as soon as I can!"
That way he doesn't have to worry about the interview noticing he has a stutter, and he's not always thinking "don't stutter you fool!" inside his head. He will probably stutter less, and because the interviewer is expecting it, he might not find it so frustrating and awkward. Though, as an aside, I would imagine a charity for disabled adults would be pretty understanding of that sort of problem?
That way he doesn't have to worry about the interview noticing he has a stutter, and he's not always thinking "don't stutter you fool!" inside his head. He will probably stutter less, and because the interviewer is expecting it, he might not find it so frustrating and awkward. Though, as an aside, I would imagine a charity for disabled adults would be pretty understanding of that sort of problem?
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