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No one said you shouldn't ask questions during an interview. It's important to understand what's expected and what the environment is like. But an interview isn't only about how you answer their questions but about the questions you ask.
Like others, I felt that the OP's questions gave a negative impression about his/her ability to multi-task and to handle a busy work schedule. I'm not saying that this in any way describes the OP - but that was the impression from the way the questions were worded.
For example, from OP's original email:
* If you asked me to deliver, say, 5 specific deliverables in a given month, and I told you that only 3 were do-able, what would your reaction be? In other words, would I be considered the authority on how long it takes to create documentation?*
Right there, you're putting the idea in the interviewers' head that this is a possible scenario - that you won't be able to do as much work as they'll want you to. That's not good.
Instead, you can ask: How would we handle the documentation deliverables? Will it be my responsibility to identify what documentation is delivered & when?
It's also good to give examples of past experiences to introduce questions.
At a previous employer, we did X and that worked/didn't work. How would you want to handle this?
Fiona Krycek <fiona -dot- krycek -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
On 6/22/07, Combs, Richard wrote:
> I'm with Gene. In fact, if I were interviewing you for a small startup*,
>and you asked those questions, I'd tell my associates that you weren't
>right for the job -- that we needed an experienced, confident
>self-starter who'd analyze our doc needs and make smart decisions and
>recommendations, not someone who seems to need training, direction, and
>hand-holding. No offense, but that's the impression those questions
>convey.
Hmm... I'm not sure why you see it as problematic for a job candidate to
ask whether the company has preconceived ideas about when their new lone
writer will begin producing deliverables, and whether or not the candidate
(ie., the writer) would be calling the shots
for scheduling deliverables. Doesn't that go to the heart of making sure you
have support from management?
I once accepted a job where I was one of two writers. During the interview
process, I did not ask about deliverables and scheduling. I started my job
and was told on the first day that I had to produce a book by the end of the
week. Despite my arguments that the timing was completely inappropriate,
given that I was new to the project, the company, the technology, as so
forth, the project team wouldn't budge. Complete nightmare, and it didn't
stop there. I was consistently treated by this company as if I were a team
of 10. I worked there for exactly two months.
So I say ask the question. It's completely legitimate, it does not make you
look as if you lack confidence or experience. How else are you going to find
out what you're getting into?
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True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
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