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RE: Sample document creation for contract position
Subject:RE: Sample document creation for contract position From:"Latella, Vincent" <VINCENT -dot- LATELLA -at- saic -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:33:27 -0400
I equate the "technical test" discussed here to having an interviewee
for a trainer or instructor position give a sample presentation.
As such, it isn't COMPLETELY out of the ordinary.
That said, it very much depends on the subject matter being covered by
this "technical test."
For instance, in a scenario where an interviewee for an instructor
position is asked to give a sample presentation, said candidate will
probably *not* be asked to give a presentation that addresses any part
of curricula or system already being worked on by that organization.
Instead, the interviewee would probably be asked to present on 1) a
topic unrelated to the potential employer's line of business or 2) a
topic of the interviewee's choice. In either case, the potential
employer's only benefit is being able to see the interviewer in action.
With that in mind, I would NOT have a problem with a situation wherein a
potential employer asked for a "technical test" involving the
documentation of something TOTALLY UNRELATED to their line of business
(e.g. a bank software company testing asking me to write a small
instructional document on the use of Wikipedia, or something equally
innocuous). If that were the case, I'd at least be sure that they
weren't simply using the interview process as a way to get free
technical writing services.
Additionally, I think that 10-15 pages is a bit much to ask for an
unpaid "technical test" from the standpoint of the interviewee's time
investment. If they *had to* give a "technical test," something closer
to the 3-5 page range would be a more considerate request.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+vincent -dot- latella=saic -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+vincent -dot- latella=saic -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Melissa Lowery-Smith
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 11:36 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Sample document creation for contract position
I have been out of the job market for over 2 years, so perhaps things
have changed since I last interviewed for technical writing jobs. I hope
that TECHWR-Lers will be able to help me determine whether my recent
situation is normal or whether it was a strange as it seemd to me. I was
recently asked to create a 10-15 page document (they referred to it as a
technical test) based on a brief interview with an SME as part of the
interview process for a 3-6 month technical writer contract. There was
no discussion about reimbursement for the time that this document
creation process would require. They wanted to interview me on Monday,
during which I would spend time with the SME discussing the type of
information to be included in the document, then they wanted the
completed document returned by Friday for review. They also wanted me to
forward some existing writing samples to them before the interview. I
felt very uncomfortable about being asked to send ahead
my writing samples by e-mail (as in I don't do this ever) and then
additionally being asked to produce such a significant new writing
sample in order to get a short-term job. Did I over-react to something
that is a reasonable request for a contract position? I might have been
less apprehensive if this had been for a permanent position or if it had
been proposed as a paid trial. This is a very small company that has not
had a technical writer previously, so maybe they didn't realize how
their request was going to be perceived. I pulled my name out of
consideration for the role, but I am wondering how other writers would
have responded to this situation.
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ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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