RE: Screening Questions for Tech Writers and Associate Professors

["Sarah Bane" <Sarah -dot- Bane -at- ProphetLine -dot- Com>]

Yikes! I see your point, John. I should have known better than to use the
term "trivia"...not that there's anything wrong with trivia...I certainly do
not think that style manuals are trivial. (Ask my students who think I have
the MLA and APA manuals memorized.)

However, I think more useful information would be obtained by asking the
candidate a question such as "Which style guide(s) have you used?" instead
of simply asking him/her to name some of them. The answer would reveal
whether the person knows that style guides exist and has the general idea
how to use them.

Sarah Bane
Technical Writer, ProphetLine, Inc.
and Adjunct Instructor, Westark College
sarah -dot- bane -at- prophetline -dot- com
sbane -at- systema -dot- westark -dot- edu

Opinions expressed are my own and not endorsed by ProphetLine or by Westark.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Posada [mailto:jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2000 3:17 PM
To: Sarah Bane; TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Screening Questions for Tech Writers and Associate
Professors


Trivia?  Since I was the one who suggested it, here's why I suggested
it...

I walked into a department at a previous contract and asked a writer I was
sharing an office with "What style guides do you guys follow?"

"Style guide?"


> Trivia questions like naming style guides strike me as minimally useful.
> Let's give the candidate credit for being able to use whichever style
> guide
> the office follows.



=====
John Posada
jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com
john -at- tdandw -dot- com
732-291-7811
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
     Benjamin Franklin

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