Re: re Interviewing Tech Writers

[Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au>]

I agree with Connie that you should look for evidence to back up your 
feeling.

You said your boss didn't get the same impression. What about the other 
  colleague who was on the interview panel with you?

Does the applicant have a track record in tech writing? If she didn't 
see interviewing SMEs as a problem perhaps this is a sign that she has 
good skills in this area. Or perhaps her SMEs have all been pussycats, 
or perhaps she has never had to interview SMEs. This would have been a 
great time in the interview for you to ask a couple of follow-up 
questions! ("Have you been in a situation where an SME was reluctant to 
make time to answer questions, or didn't take your need for information 
seriously? What would you do in this situation?")

In Canada, can you contact references to ask about the applicant's work 
performance? Can you confirm that she actually did the work that she 
brought to you as her samples? That is, whether a particular manual is 
all her own work, or mostly her work, or if she was only one of a team 
of writers. (Or, "Ms X? On *that* project? Uhhhhhhh....") If she shows 
you technical material, she really did do the work, and it looks like 
good work, surely that outweighs a theory or 'gut feel' that she might 
be picky or not good with SMEs.

What were the other applicants like? Are any of them suitable, or is 
this person the clear leader apart from your reservations?

Regards

Stuart
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