If you’re one of the 15% of American adults (37.5 million) aged 18 and over who report some trouble hearing (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders), you may have some extra jitters leading up to a job interview. Fortunately, there are ways you can compensate for your hearing loss so you can interview with confidence.
Visit an Audiologist
If you suspect you have hearing loss but haven’t yet seen an audiologist, what are you waiting for? Audiologists are experts in the auditory system. Not only can they diagnose your exact type and degree of hearing loss, but they can also select and fit a treatment that suits your hearing needs.
Wear Your Hearing Aids
If you have visited an audiologist and been fit with hearing aids, it’s important that you wear them to your job interview, so you’re hearing your best. If your interview is over the phone or via video, your interviewer won’t even notice them. Plus, if your devices have Bluetooth capabilities, you can connect them directly to your phone, tablet or computer, so the audio is streamed directly to your ears. If your interview is in-person, your devices will amplify your interviewer’s speech to a level you can easily understand.
Request a Quiet Space
More and more interviews are conducted from the comfort of your home. If this is the case, don’t be afraid to ask your family to keep it down or step out of the house for an hour or so during your interview so there’s no distracting background noise. If your interview is in the office, you can still request a quiet space, as open floor office plans are increasingly popular, but most offices have a quiet meeting room available.
Ask for Clarification
If you didn’t quite hear or understand a question, don’t try to fake your way through it. Instead, simply ask for clarification or for the interviewer to rephrase what they asked. This is acceptable during an interview whether you have hearing loss or not.
Take Notes
Another way to be engaged with the interviewer is to take notes in a notebook along the way. This will allow you to know what to circle back on, if necessary, if you need more clarification by the end of the interview. This can also help the interview feel more like a two-way interaction than a one-way line of questioning.
For more information or to schedule an appointment with an expert audiologist, call San Diego ENT today.