Stuttering, interviews, and a public/client facing career
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Stuttering, interviews, and a public/client facing career This is modified from post I made on r/introvert now that I realize my issue is as much stuttering as it is introversion. I have had a severe stutter all my life (27 now). I had speech therapy as a kid but it had no effect on me. For whatever reason, I decided I wanted to be a mental health professional. I got my bachelor's in psychology and am now doing a master's in the same. I'm now at the stage where I'm required to find a practicum site (basically an internship) where I have to actually learn how to do therapy. I've done well on and enjoyed the coursework up to this point and but am now starting to have second thoughts about my career choice vis-a-vis my terrible verbal communication skills. However, I feel like I'm in too deep now to turn back. I understand these things can be trainable but that is contingent on someone giving me a chance first. I had my first interview last week and I was interviewed by two clinicians from the agency. They seemed friendly enough but it was hard to tell what they were really thinking. I thought the content of my answers was decent other than being brief and lacking in long spiels, and thought I had some good questions for the interviewers (they said "good question" a few times). However, I stuttered and stammered my way through the interview like Drew Lynch, though the I did not notice the interviewers react to it, nor did they comment on my stutter. Maybe it would have been better if I had explicitly addressed the elephant in the room rather than trying to pretend it wasn't there? I ultimately chose not to bring it up in my follow-up email either because I didn't want to come off as making excuses for myself. Two days later, I'm notified that they didn't hire me. I'm pretty sure it was the stuttering that turned them off. Given that this is not even a real job but an unpaid traineeship, this outcome doesn't leave me with much optimism. However, I can't say I'm surprised because I wouldn't have hired myself for a public/client facing role based on that performance either. Should I keep trying to find a psych practicum or should I look into a career change (to the extent that that is possible without redoing all of my tertiary education)?