To Test or Not to Test

[Daniel Wise <dewise -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

Colleagues,

This testing thread has drawn a lot of comments.  Let me add, after
accounting for inflation, my dollar's worth.

One type of "writing" test I found useful was to ask the candidate at the
end of the interview to put pencil to paper and write a short synopsis of
what we had discussed, what his/her perception of the job was based on what
we had discussed.  The value of this test was two-fold.  First, I got to
read an unedited sample of the candidate's prose.   Second, I got a chance
to correct any misconceptions the candidate might have based on faulty
communication between the two of us.  Of course, we were not dealing with
software doc; what we needed was a solid knowledge of English grammar,
syntax, usage, spelling, etc.  We were basically editors of scientific and
technical reports.

For what it is worth, that is what I did.  It worked for me at that time, in
that position, under those circumstances.  It might or might not work for
you.

Dan Wise
dewise -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com

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