10 ms·

Ask HN: What should I do?

• kvnn 14y ago
  You should post your resume here, or at least let us know what you're capable of and where you're heading.
• guy_c 14y ago
  One option would be to partner with an experienced freelance developer that has work they are looking to sub out to someone else. They can then be the client facing side of your development skills.
• stevejalim 14y ago
  Where are you based, would you be willing to relocate and what skills do you have? I know a really great, warm web dev agency that is hiring. I can at least ping you a link. Email address in my profile.
  • pattle 14y ago
    Based in Suffolk, Yes definitely willing to relocate. Thanks, I'll be in touch
    • petercooper 14y ago
      My e-mail is also on my profile page - if possible, could you send me a CV? :-) (To be honest, if you have a portfolio/CV online, you might do better posting it right here as I suspect there will be some interest.)
      • polymatter 14y ago
        His personal site is on his HN profile page (www.chrispattle.com). LinkedIn at (http://www.linkedin.com/in/chrispattle http://www.linkedin.com/in/chrispattle)
• mikecane 14y ago
  Your stammering problem must bleed into the rest of your life too. Sorry if this is a question you've heard a billion times already, but have you done any research about how to get rid of it? A prominent TV personality here in the states named John Stossel confessed to growing up with a stammer that he still slightly has and talked about how he was able to rid himself of it.
• AdamGibbins 14y ago
  There are cures to the majority of speech impediments, if its affecting your life day to day its likely you can also get this (this being speech therapy etc) on the NHS - you should speak to your GP for advice. I've often considered it myself, I have a mild lisp.
• msellout 14y ago
  You may be entitled to protection by disability laws (http://www.stammeringlaw.org.uk/disability/disab.htm http://www.stammeringlaw.org.uk/disability/disab.htm) that will help you gain a raise or new employment.
  • pattle 14y ago
    Thanks for the link, I will take a look
• dylanhassinger 14y ago
  You are a programmer. You can make value by wiggling your fingers. (Stammering is just fine!) The solution: Build a micro product, turn it into a freedom business, and fire your boss. http://fourhourworkweek.com http://fourhourworkweek.com http://lifestylebusinesspodcast.com http://lifestylebusinesspodcast.com http://startupbook.net http://startupbook.net Fwiw, self-help products can be gold mines. You might try to develop a product to help other people with stammering, I have paid for "quit nailbiting" and "stop being shy" products.
  • jimsc 14y ago
    Did the nailbiting thing work?
    • kvnn 14y ago
      I recommend http://www.amazon.com/Mavala-Stop-Biting-Sucking-0-3-Fluid/dp/B0000YUXI0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364910269&sr=8-1&keywords=nail+biting http://www.amazon.com/Mavala-Stop-Biting-Sucking-0-3-Fluid/d...
    • dylanhassinger 14y ago
      it helped. What finally broke the habit was my own technique, using bandaids as a pattern interrupt.
• pklien 14y ago
  Do you have a personal brand on the web? Do you blog? Do you publish code on services like github? How influential are you in the digital world - what's your social media presence? These are the strengths that matter! Also, use this characteristic as a strength, in interviews introduce yourself "Hi, I am ____ - because I stammer, by web work is the best you'll find".
  • robin_reala 14y ago
    His github profile looks certainly good enough to bag a job that pays more than £15k (extreme entry level in the UK, my first web development job was underpaid at £15.5k and that was in 2004). https://github.com/pattle https://github.com/pattle
• yummyfajitas 14y ago
  Have you considered practicing not stammering? I don't think it'll be easy, but it sounds like the obvious course of action.
  • lucb1e 14y ago
    I think that's what he's been practically doing all his life, or since whenever the stammer started... Of course professional help may improve some, so if he doesn't have that already he could apply for it, but it's not as easy as "practicing not to stammer".
• edent 14y ago
  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. If your CV and Portfolio are good, then your interview is basically "can we work with this person." If people are sufficiently impressed with your work, it won't matter whether you stammer, have dreadful BO, and have a hobby of murdering kittens on the weekend. 4) Speak to your GP and see if you can get help. Speech therapy isn't perfect, but it can help. Good luck!
  • pattle 14y ago
    Thanks for your help. I hadn't thought about applying for bigger companies and disclosing, that should help and put me more at ease. I have a personal website and github account which should show what I can do too.
    • mryan 14y ago
      Targeting the public sector is great advice - http://www.jobs.ac.uk/ http://www.jobs.ac.uk/ is dedicated to jobs at UK universities, hopefully that helps in your search. If you take freelance jobs from oDesk/PeoplePerHour et cetera, you might be able to perform all communication via email/IM. This isn't ideal, but could work as a backup plan if you want to try your hand at freelancing in the meantime.
  • darkxanthos 14y ago
    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.
    • jborden13 14y ago
      Steve Jobs apparently had horrid BO (not sure about his affinity for cat murder).
• ses 14y ago
  Wow, off topic I know but this is the kind of question and responses that give me faith in HN (and online communities in general) being a useful resource for people to participate in. This is a real world problem of someone who has had the courage to ask for help and they're receiving some decent responses and encouragement. My only words are yes I would say you are underpaid and I'm sure there's a better job out there for you so good luck with the job hunting.
  • pattle 14y ago
    Totally agree. There has been so many helpful and encouraging responses!
• alinajaf 14y ago
  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 extremely welcoming market. If you have three years experience, you should be clearing £42k, if not £45k. I don't know much about speech impediments and how easy/hard they are to fix, but in this market, trust me, you can achieve £42k+ for fizzbuzz and a pulse. EDIT: Modified figures in last paragraph on account of OP having three years of experience.
  • robgough 14y ago
    £42k after 3 years? Where are you working - London? That makes rather a large difference, as I'd be shocked if someone was getting that after 3 years for web dev here in Manchester.
    • alinajaf 14y ago
      Yes, London. I was at £45k after two years, and permie salaries are in general higher now than than they were three years ago.
      • robgough 14y ago
        I would suggest that outside of London the salaries are massively different. Though £15k is still almost-criminally low regardless of where you are. I'd expect someone with 3 years web dev experience to be anywhere from mid-20's to mid-30's outside of London, and a cursory search for Suffolk that appears to be about right.
      • candrei12 14y ago
        Hi, I saw some rates in Lodon for my experience(around £60k for >6 years for permanent positions). Are these rates before or after taxes ? I'm asking because it varies from country to country. Thanks Andrei
• DoubleMalt 14y ago
  Drop me a mail if you're interested in working on visionary products.
• mattwritescode 14y ago
  Yes, underpaid (massivly). Firstly are you sure the companies are not employing you because of your stammer? Just checking your not going to interviews and putting your feet upon the table etc (thats not going to get you a job). To be honest many companies I have worked in have had a range of people and abilities but at the end of the day what got you the job was your ability to turn out code. The best thing to do is apply for positions and arrange the interview, at this point let the interviewer know about your stammer. More importantly if they know in advanced then they will be prepared. Let them know what can be done to make the situation easier for you and for them (i can guarentee they too will be feeling very awkward). What will also help during the interview is to tell them how best to help you manage your stammer. A friend of mine can speak a lot better down the phone than face to face so at his work place his boss uses the interval phone system or instant chat to work with him.
• drsim 14y ago
  When I was a permanent employee or contractor I'd always check in on the CW Jobs salary checker (http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/salary-checker/salary-calculator http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/salary-checker/salary-calculator) when negotiations came around. I found the salaries and day rates there are a little higher than those I discovered by speaking with colleagues, but it's a great rule-of-thumb. Use things like this to press for a raise/promotion or decide to jump ship/re-skill in more commercial languages. If your stammer doesn't affect your ability to perform your job (as it's unlikely to do as a programmer vs. say, a call centre agent) you should be paid market rate. Web developer market rates here: http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/salary-checker/average-web-developer-salary http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/salary-checker/average-web-developer... ...be sure to go to 'top salaries' for your county as the usual London weighting is in effect!
• mhb 14y ago
  1. You should make the title more descriptive. Maybe What should I do? I stammer in interviews
• masnick 14y ago
  You could also think about freelancing with a business partner who does the majority of the face-to-face or phone work with clients. I ran across this interesting freelance/consulting contract yesterday: https://github.com/ashedryden/freelance-contract https://github.com/ashedryden/freelance-contract. It stipulates that all the day-to-day communication is text-based, with in-person or phone meetings as needed but scheduled 2 days in advance. With that kind of contract, you could realistically avoid dealing with most in-person/phone client stuff, or do it alongside your business partner if needed. I don't think this kind of arrangement would look abnormal to a client. There's efficiency reasons for wanting everything text-based (IM, Basecamp, etc.) and for having a single point of contact for phone/voice meetings (your business partner).
  • krmmalik 14y ago
    Off topic, but that's a brilliant way to host contracts. I don't know why I didn't think of this. I'm going to start hosting my contracts for my digital consulting clients on github from now on.
• munr 14y ago
  You're definitely underpaid. Growing up, I also had a mild stammer, and went through a couple of weeks speech therapy (not sure what age, sometime around 10-11) after speaking to my school nurse about it. You may want to speak to your local GP and see if you can get some help. A lot of what I learned was just about how to slow down my speech and breathe, which felt a bit silly at the time, but over the years it has proven to be valuable. I'm sure you'd also get some value from some it. You're also fortunate to be in an industry where online communication is the norm, and it should be fairly easy to pick up side work and build up your skills and experience that way too. During my years freelancing, I worked for clients where 99% of communication was done via email, Basecamp, etc, in which case having a stammer is a non-issue as very little communication is voice. Good Luck!
• christianboyle 14y ago
  Have you considered looking for remote/telecommute positions? Maybe you could work with a speech therapist at nights while getting paid fairly during the days and work your way back into an in-office position (if that's what you desire).
• minikomi 14y ago
  I feel like all these underpaid posts are trying to send me a message lately.
• cmadan 14y ago
  As a deaf programmer when I was on the job market I also faced similar problems that you faced. My issue was with hearing not speaking (although my speech is also not as good as a normal hearing person). Here is what worked for me 1. Persistence. Keep trying. 2. Target the BigCorps. They have HR departments and product managers that are sensitized to disabilities. Sometimes they actually have commitments to a diverse workforce which can work in your favor. And they are unlikely to shortchange you based on your disability if you make it through (since it isn't the HR employee or product manager's money). 3. Let him know about your disability before the interview. For me, I had a short 1-minute speech prepared stating my hard of hearing issue and letting them know they might have to repeat the question 2-3 times or write it down in the interview and asking them if they were fine with it. I'd speak it as soon as I sat down in the interview chair. For you, you might want to send an email before the interview stating that you prefer communicating via writing? Maybe take your laptop and use Notepad to communicate? 4. Do Google Chat + Doc instead of phone screens. You didn't mention whether most companies want you to do a phone screen or not and whether you're missing out on opportunities because of this. Phone screens are impossible for me and using an text relay would take forever, so I usually ask the interviewer to do a Google Chat + Doc interview instead. Most oblige, some of them (usually a lazy HR associate) don't for unexplainable reasons.
• ebbv 14y ago
  I dunno about in the UK but in the US it would be illegal for companies to discriminate against you based on your stammer, and I know personally I would not care. I would be fine doing the interview over text if that's more comfortable for you. Don't let them take advantage of you. Of course I would need to see your work to know if they actually are, but if you can write PHP/Ruby and JavaScript they probably are.
• zura 14y ago
  I have an occasional stammer as well, but for me it is kind of an opposite - I did speak quite well during interviews, but it happens only after I get a job, on a day by day basis - at meetings or conversations with colleagues/friends. Maybe it is some kind of defense reaction of brain, but it thinks that this is not that important for everyday life :) I have to add that I tend to speak quite fast.
• krmmalik 14y ago
  Have you considered freelancing? You could work remotely mostly and explain upfront to your potential clients regards your situation. Clients just want the work done mostly. I understand the lack of regular income could be an issue, but you could potentially earn alot more than you are earning right now. Also, please let me have some of your details and I'll add you to my address book. I consulting in Digital Strategy and occassionally have a requirement for someone to do some development work.
• edw519 14y ago
  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? | | | |=================================|
  • mryan 14y ago
    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.
    • goblin89 14y ago
      I'm not sure this is a good idea. From first communications HR may remember him as the programmer with a stammer, and will have some time to give the condition undeserved attention. Yet there's even no guarantee that the interviewer will be aware of that conversation (especially with larger companies, AFAICT).
      • mryan 14y ago
        Sure, that's a valid point. I suppose the best time to do it would be while arranging the in-person/phone interview. The interviewers will (hopefully!) be told what time the interview is, so this information could be forwarded at the same time. And if the HR team can't ensure the interviewers have this extremely relevant piece of information? That's probably a signal about how effectively that company handles communication.
      • jdotjdot 14y ago
        They're likely to remember him as the programmer with a stammer anyway, aren't they? At least this way they remember him as the programmer with a stammer who was brave and addressed it up front.
• shin_lao 14y ago
  Build a portfolio. Work freelance. You'll do most of your work over email or chat. Your clients will not care about your stammer.
  • UK-AL 14y ago
    A lot of people find it extremely difficult to find clients though. I.E Me Where do you look when your first starting out?
• bradleyland 14y ago
  > I've asked my current employers for a raise but because they know my situation and they know my stammer means I interview badly they know I am stuck here. They are wrong. They are completely and utterly wrong. You can have a stammer and still interview well. I once knew a guy named Jack. He's one of the funniest and most charismatic people I've ever known, and he had severe strabismus (lazy eye). I'm not talking about a minor case either. One of his eyes would roll off, staring in to the distance as you were talking to him. The eyes have it, as they say, and when you have a conversation with someone suffering from strabismus, it can be extremely uncomfortable and distracting. Jack knew this, but instead of being sheepish about his condition, he would address it head on. He had a clever quip that he used to simultaneously draw your attention to his condition, as well as communicate that he understands it can be distracting. It became immediately clear that his confidence out-shined his condition. I know this isn't easy advice, but you have to learn to do the same. Based on the work in your Github profile and the posts on your blog, I'd say you're certainly worth more £15,000 a year. Your employers are not the ones who believe you interview badly, you are! When you stop believing that and put yourself out there, you'll grow past it. Once you grow past it, you'll earn at a level appropriate for your skill level, rather than a social limitation.
  • victorhn 14y ago
    Jack Paul Sartre?
    • aw3c2 14y ago
      What are you posting people's names publically on the internet. Please remove that comment.
      • fibbery 14y ago
        Not sure if joke...
      • dsr_ 14y ago
        I'm pretty sure that was a joke, not the real name of a programmer.
• georgespencer 14y ago
  Interview for a job with us. You can instant message us during the interview! Email address in profile.
• graeme 14y ago
  edw519's comment is a great idea. I also want to say that stammer's are beatable. My dad had a terrible stammer when he was young. He managed to get over it, through deliberate practice. Now he's very social, always has groups of people laughing at parties. Except for an occasional stutter you'd never know he had had a speech impediment. I don't remember exactly how he did it, but if you want to know more, send me an email (it's in the profile) and I'll ask him.
• powatom 14y ago
  > I've asked my current employers for a raise but because they know my situation and they know my stammer means I interview badly they know I am stuck here. You work in an industry where you can get away with relatively little verbal communication. Do NOT let your current employers convince you that you can't move to a better paid job because frankly, your pay is disgustingly low. I've worked with 'web developers' making upwards of 25k who wouldn't know web development if it hit them in the face. Provided you're not an absolutely lemon at your job, you should be able to walk into a job paying 22-28k right now, easily. Obviously this depends on location too, and whether your skills match up to the experience you claim! Your stammer is nothing more than a hurdle - remember that. Simply accept that stammering is something you do, and try not to let it get the better of you in an interview situation. You are applying for the position of a web developer, not a public speaker. Your current employers are taking advantage of your lack of confidence - tell it to them straight that you want a raise because you are being underpaid.
• jami 14y ago
  I think disclosing ahead of time is the best advice. Think of the interview as an opportunity to start working with your company on how to get the most from you. With three years' experience, you may still be very young, so you may not have that all figured out yet. But if you let the interviewers know that you can communicate effectively (even if you have to do the interview via Skype chat in the same room), that will help quite a bit. Also know that some interviewers, given a candidate who otherwise meets the requirements, like to find buried treasure. Persisting until you find a whole team of those interviewers could work as well.
• CiaranMcNulty 14y ago
  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.
• mikecarroll 14y ago
  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.
• southphillyman 14y ago
  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.
• eksith 14y ago
  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.
  • zwily 14y ago
    Same idea as the record player in Kings Speech, right?
• davidradcliffe 14y ago
  Props for asking for advice! Good luck!
• acangiano 14y ago
  At first I thought this was a parody of the other guy complaining about $115K a year. Then I saw it was serious. Perspective, eh.
• gee_totes 14y ago
  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"
  • gee_totes 14y ago
    Also, here is a great blog on stuttering: http://thestutteringbrain.blogspot.com/ http://thestutteringbrain.blogspot.com/
  • phreanix 14y ago
    Just dropping in to give you an Internet high five!
  • gamegoblin 14y ago
    Another stutterer here. Fortunately, my stutter is limited to certain phonemes (generally initial plosives). I can generally just avoid words that I know I will stutter on, but unfortunately some words have no synonyms. For example, I stutter on the word "but", so I use "though" anywhere it wouldn't be terribly awkward. I have a phone interview coming up this week. Hope I manage to keep a lid on it!
• mozmoz 14y ago
  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!
• danesparza 14y ago
  Understand that your technical abilities are a small part of why people actually hire you. If they feel they're going to have a hard time communicating with you, or that you're not a good personality fit -- the hard truth is most people will pass. Here is my advice: See a good speech therapist. If your stammer is triggered by your emotional state, see a good counselor. Take a communications class. Start interviewing like crazy (just to get comfortable with the process itself). I'm giving this advice out of my own experience. All of these things have improved myself and my spouse's life immensely. You'll feel more confident and have certain tricks and tips up your sleeve to help you nail interviews. You've got a lot of life ahead of you. Don't live it out of fear.
• almost 14y ago
  Wow man, you are sooo underpaid. I know there are a hundred other comments telling you that but just thought I'd add to them. Know this, there are loads of companies out there that REALLY want to hire you, it's hard to hire programmers at double your current salary. Just tell people about the stammer, you'll find plenty who will understand and be accommodating. Check out the monthly "Who's hiring" threads on here as well, the latest was posted yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5472746 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5472746 Go contact some likely looking positions on there right now! Seriously, you're a programmer, programmers are really in demand right now. You can and will find something better. Also, fuck your current employer, how dare they take advantage of that to pay you so little. Good luck! Why not let us know how it went when you've had try...
• gigantor 14y ago
  I'm a person who stammers (probably 7/10 on the severity scale) and make as much or more than my top peers. I'm also a contractor, go through and pass more interviews per year than the average full time developer, despite completely blowing some interviews in moments of silence. 1. Your compensation is directly correlated to the company you're dealing with, knowledge of market rates, and negotiation skills. 2. If your employers do in fact don't give you a raise due to your stammer and keep you 'locked up', they are unimaginably terrible mentors and leaders and you need to discard this toxin from your life as soon as you can. 3. Enroll in stammer-specific therapy. The Camperdown speech shaping program is one of the more recent ones for long lasting effects. 4. Read literature about organizational behaviour and power; your quality of code and unit test coverage has very little to do with winning any battles.
  • UK-AL 14y ago
    Do you have any recommendations for literature?
• danso 14y ago
  Have you tried to bring up the issue at the beginning of the interview, by saying something up front like: "Hi, great to meet you, just so you know, I do stutter when I talk, but etc. etc. insert self-effacing joke here"? Off-topic: I couldn't help but remember the This American Life episode where a student with a stuttering problem records himself speaking a monologue and removes the stutters in post-production: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/203/recordings-for-someone http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/203/r...
• sirbrad 14y ago
  Your code should always win the battles. I've had a stammer all my life, it's one the most frustrating things ever. Here's a few things I'd do/did; - Make a portfolio of the dev work you've done. - When you start speaking with an employer, mention your stammer before the interview so they know what to expect. I think this will also help you mentally prepare as well, there will be 'no' surprises. - Stay calm & good luck!
• benjamincburns 14y ago
  Yes, you're grossly underpaid. You're doing 100% the right thing by building up a portfolio. That said, it would be a mistake to think that you can fix this problem with code alone. While a portfolio can "do the talking" to get you in the door, you still have to communicate with your coworkers once you're there. I'd second others opinions to talk to your GP, tell him/her that your speech impediment is affecting your career. Put just as much effort into working with a medical professional as you did/are with your portfolio, and over time you'll have no trouble earning what you're obviously worth. [EDIT: Also, let your employer know that you're doing these things. Chances are you're more vital to them than you realize, and all of this will help you get that raise. But if you do get it, don't let that placate you. Keep improving yourself.] [Second edit; I confused this with a Show HN post I was reading at the same time, sorry. Sentiment is the same, however.]
• BSousa 14y ago
  I really wished when people posted to complain about their situation they would give more details. Where do you live? Can you take freelance work? Available to travel if opportunity arises? At the moment I don't have any leads but if I know where you are located at least, I could try and see if I (and others here I'm sure) could help.
• MIT_Hacker 14y ago
  There's actually a great company called Balbus Speech which develops mobile apps for speech therapy. I've watched someone go from being unable to speak to perfectly flowing English while using their solutions. http://balbusspeech.com/ http://balbusspeech.com/
  • jackrmcdermott 14y ago
    That's right! We develop mobile apps for people who stutter based on proven methods from speech-language pathology. Our most popular app is Speech4Good (http://speech4good.com http://speech4good.com)
• pattle 14y ago
  If anyone wishes to contact me please see my profile for my email address and personal website
• amorphid 14y ago
  Track down some deaf or mute software engineers and ask them for advice. Maybe you'll get lucky and one of them will hire you!
• jackrmcdermott 14y ago
  I stutter also--it's an incredibly frustrating experience for sure, but there's a lot you can do! For one, I've been creating iOS apps to help people speak through proven speech therapy methods (http://speech4good.com http://speech4good.com). We're helping thousands of people improve their speech right now. You can also join various support groups through the Nat'l Stuttering Assoc. (http://westutter.org http://westutter.org) or the British Stammering Assoc. (http://stammering.org)--I http://stammering.org)--I would highly recommend one of these groups. Most of all, stay positive! You're in great company (Churchill, James Earl Jones, and more!)
• octopi 14y ago
  As someone with a mild stutter (5/10, 8 on bad days) but actually does a fair amount of public speaking for a living, I understand how difficult this can be for you. As context for those that have never experienced this before, Nathan Heller describes it very eloquently in both what it feels like physically and how it affects one psychologically and socially: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2011/02/the_stutterer.single.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2... It was an emotional read for me as it captures so successfully my own situation, and I'd imagine it will be too for many with a stutter. I can only offer some anecdotal advice based on my own experiences, but I hope your situation improves soon (I agree with most of what everyone else is saying: you are being underpaid.) - Slow down your speech. Sometimes my thoughts get ahead of my mouth, and my words don't come out eloquently. Sometimes when I do phone interviews (or presentations) I put a little card in front of me that has written in big letters "SLOW DOWN." Speech pace may not be a factor for you, but this trick can probably be applied to whatever you're personally going through—put something on a card that keeps you subtly conscious of your speech. Of course YMMV if this makes you nervous and enhances your stammer. - Practice. I've basically found that all presentations and speaking events turn out better after practicing aloud. With interviews, you can ask a friend to help you prepare, and this may help you with "softball" non-coding questions (e.g., why you looking for a new position, describe a technical challenge, etc.) - Speak more. This goes hand-in-hand with the point above but is really important. I speak more so I gain more confidence in my own speech, which helps me get over my stutter. Heller (the article above) makes a great point in saying that stutterers actually seem to be attracted to professions in which speaking is a critical part of the role. I somewhat feel the same way, and perhaps if you realize this, you can too. A stutter isn't something to cower away from, it's a challenge to step up to and break through.
• angus_c 14y ago
  I have a stammer - often very severe. I don't have all the answers but I hope I can offer inspiration. I'm now working at Twitter and I speak at conferences internationally. I've struggled through the issues you have and I used to assume I could never get a job of any kind. In the end it's about attitude. Don't try not to stammer. Speak as much as you can. Be who you are, know what you're good at and let others know it. Always remember that a good employee will hire you for what you can do, not what you can't.
• mattmaroon 14y ago
  Question: can the stammer be fixed, or at least improved? If so I'd make that priority #1. (Sorry but I know nothing about stammers beyond what I find from a cursory Google search and my memory of The King's Speech.) People here will tell you the world's a meritocracy and that if you're good enough employers will hire you anyway. That's bullshit. I wish it were true but you know by now it isn't. People act first and rationalize later. They'll think of all sorts of reasons why they shouldn't hire you due to your stammer. "He'll be hard to communicate with." "He's a bad culture fit." Etc. They might all be wrong, and maybe it's their loss because they're passing up on a great employee, but you'll be consistently undervalued the rest of your life due to that. You shouldn't be, but you will. Don't let your perception of how the world should be prevent you from seeing how it actually is. Perhaps you've tried to fix the stammer, or perhaps it's unfixable. Or perhaps you just haven't devoted enough effort to it. If it's the latter I'd highly recommend doing that. I know it's unfair. You're a web developer, not a public speaker, and as long as you can communicate well with your team it really shouldn't be a factor in a job interview. But the world is unfair and it is what it is. Your options are to keep trying to do something you know isn't working, or adapt to the situation. (If it can't be fixed I'd try to find a clever way to mitigate it. Lie and tell people you're a mute for a bit and see if they are more receptive. You'll have to do some experimentation. I wouldn't do this until I'd exhausted every avenue of fixing it though.) Regardless, don't fall back on "my code should be able to win these battles". It should but it won't, and the longer you spend beating your head against that wall the more frustrated you'll become.
• hardik988 14y ago
  Hi pattle - I know exactly what/how you're feeling - I stutter as well, and am currently interviewing. The biggest problem of stuttering during interviews is not the stuttering itself, but rather the break in the train of thought while brainstorming answers to interview questions. First off - phone interviews are a nightmare for me - and I almost always fail to make an impression - because of the several ticks I produce while trying not to stammer. I used to think I would do better at face-to-face interviews, since I can at least write on the whiteboard. Every piece of interview advice I've read says that one should keep speaking while thinking during an interview, and not just be silent and think - which is how I work best, because my brain is freed from the burden of speaking correctly. When I 'speak while thinking of solutions', my brain automatically starts focusing on being careful about not stammering, and that really hurts my ability to focus on solving the questions - which are quite difficult in the first place. One solution that's partially helped: I know that many stutterers are much better off when saying something semi-rehearsed, whether it be a phrase like, "So the brute force solution is _____ " or whatever. My brain goes into mechanical mode while saying this phrase, giving it more time to actually think. I've never revealed to interviewers that I have a stutter (even though they would probably suspect that by the end of the interview), but I guess you should consider what edw519 says in the top comment. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.
• sinak 14y ago
  Hey pattle - what sort of web dev do you do? Any particular programming languages you're particularly proficient with?
• shanecleveland 14y ago
  Is there the possibility of programming an app or tool for stutterers? Use that as gateway to both confront the topic and demonstrate your ability to overcome problems through programming.
• piyas 14y ago
  Hi, I stutter, often badly. Think this way - it is the fear that does this to you even more. I have learnt to live with it, make it your way of doing things - make people to accept you as you are, you will see you will overcome it - I worked in UK before. The card idea is perfect. When I public speak, I declare that I have a speech impediment and offer to re-iterate when needed. I taught a bunch of college kids in a classroom, all saw me, not my stuttering
• polymatter 14y ago
  Here are some stats for you about the UK job market for web developers (http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/web%20developer.do http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/web%20developer.do). You can use that in your negotiations with your current employer or to encourage you to look further afield. You're doing the right thing blogging and posting to github. I encourage you to continue. You are definitely worth more than £15k, even in Suffolk.
• netcan 14y ago
  I'm not entirely sure what this has to do with innovation vs iteration. It's more about why don't "third world" problems get solved by startups. There are a few answers to this: a - It's where the money is. Most of the products in the world are manufactured for and sold to the rich. That's what rich means. b - Startup founders are rich or come from rich communities. So are their investors and advisors. They are also young, urban, techie, etc. So, they see the things these markets need and make products for them. It's hard to design stuff for markets so removed from yourself. c - It's easier to start at the luxurious end for all sorts of reasons and startups are starting up. Elon Musk gave a good explanation about doing it at Tesla (offsetting the high per-nit cost of new technology). There are other reasons that explain why you find many small chocolatiers selling $30 boxes but few competing with Cadburys. Making stuff cheap is often. harder and more expensive.
  • gamegoblin 14y ago
    Is this comment in the wrong thread?
    • netcan 14y ago
      yes. sorry.
• stevebot 14y ago
  It sucks if people judge you for your stammer, and if a company lets that get in the way of the interview, they probably suck too. My advice is keep trying until you find a place that doesn't judge you. Otherwise, even if you get past the interview, you will probably find that the company's discrimination will just leak into other avenues.
• lisagonzo 14y ago
  What a beautiful outpouring of human compassion- I'm sorry I don't have advice, but am truly moved by the outpouring of help from all posts. Lovely! :)
• eitally 14y ago
  Just to add a useful, encouraging data point. My DBA supervisor has a really challenging stammer, and he's fantastic -- both as a technical leader and a people manager. We value him highly and his stammer has never, ever been a problem (or changed the way people interact with him). There is hope!
• chris_dcosta 14y ago
  I conducted a technical telephone interview with someone who had a strong stammer. I can't say it was easy, but he was the best person I interviewed, and so he got the job. You will find the right person to employ you, and ditch the current employer because like others have said, you are not being paid enough.
• anonbit 14y ago
  Well I don't recommend doing drugs but this is what I did and it absolutely worked. Take ecstasy. I am absolutely clinically unable to do any type of interview, phone or in person. I have a hard time even remembering my own name during an interview. I flew to an a high level interview in person and for an engineering position and I taped ecstasy to my crotch. About an hour before the interview I popped that sucker and let the magic happen. I got the job. Everyone is different and I don't recommend abusing drugs and do not do this unless you know how it affects you. But for me it absolutely works.
• cbm 14y ago
  You should drop us a note Courtney at GeneralAssemb.ly. We'd love to help you.
• mjdn 14y ago
  My organisation in london is hiring. I'll pop you an email with details tomorrow when I get into the office. Would be happy to meet up in london to talk about it. I don't work in that department and have no pull with HR but the organisation does have a big focus on accessibility and diversity so they'd be happy to make reasonable adjustments
• narayankpl 14y ago
  If you want inspiration you need look no further than Winston Churchill. You could try to overcome it. I really like the card idea below. Why not Freelance... since most of it is done over mail.
• EnderMB 14y ago
  Out of interest, what kind of Web Development do you do? In my experience, if you are a PHP developer that primarily uses WordPress, or solely a front-end developer there are far more employers out there that are ready to shaft you. That being said, £15k is criminal. I'd not pay a student that little, let alone someone with three years of experience. Would you be willing to relocate? London is obviously the biggest place in the UK for tech jobs, but I would highly recommend looking at Bristol. It has some fantastic agencies, a few large tech companies, and a good mix of languages (ASP.NET/C# is strong here, and I see some Ruby and Python work around). Most importantly, someone with three years of experience would easily rake in £25-30k. I've worked with a few devs that have come from your area looking for work, and they all seem to love it here. Regarding the point of your post, I can understand how your stammer would make you feel less confident. I know that it's a bit rich for someone on the Internet to say "be confident", but in reality an interview is as much about you interviewing a company as it is about them interviewing you. You seem experienced enough that most friendly dev teams would happily take you on if there is a mid-level role available. While I would say that you should definitely seek help if it's this much of a problem I would also suggest that you try to focus more of your energy in an interview on assessing the potential job, rather than trying to sell yourself. It'll make the process a lot more logical, and will probably reduce the stress levels in the room, and hopefully with that the potential for stammering.