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Re: Why don't more job interviews use writing tests?

Subject: Re: Why don't more job interviews use writing tests?
From: Sarah Stegall <siliconwriter -at- comcast -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 09:51:27 -0800



On Tuesday, February 8, 2005, at 03:25 PM, Chuck Martin wrote:


The cynic in me answers that question with the thought that many interviews are conducted by HR folk or development managers, many of who wouldn't know good writing if it bit them in the *ss. Part of that sentiment come from knowing many people on many development teams who glow at the mere existence of printed words on paper without knowing if such words are of actual use to anyone.


I don't know if that is cynicism on your part, but it's reality for me. I've never, in 12 years, been interviewed by a tech pubs manager for a job. I was always interviewed by peer team members, a manager who was an engineer, or by the marketing department. I'm far more frequently asked questions about my technical knowledge of an industry or product. I'm often asked to explain ATM encapsulation, or SONET transport, or IP addressing; no one ever asks me if I can format a document in Framemaker.

None of my interviewers seemed to know the first thing about what a technical writer does or what the job requires. Heck, you can tell that just by reading job descriptions--after the first few it's obvious the HR departments are all cribbing the same job descriptions from one another.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------
Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.

Sarah


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