Re: Agency and interviewing questions

[Stephen Arrants <arrants -at- BRIGHTWARE -dot- COM>]

On Saturday, December 07, 1996 6:28 PM, Linda
Castellani[SMTP:castle -at- CRL -dot- COM] wrote:
>>         I'd like to hear how people choose what samples to send.   And
>> how you present them to the client.
>>
>>         The problem with being asked to submit samples in advance is that
>> you are limited to sending photocopies or faxes of a few pages of
>> something, without an opportunity to present any kind of context, or
>> answer the client's questions about the sample submitted.  You can't send
>> everything, and you don't want to run the risk of having the client
>> assume that if you didn't send what he's looking for, that you aren't
>> capable of doing it.
>>

At the point you're being asked to submit samples, you should know what
kind oif writing you may be doing and what kind of writer they are
looking for.
If I have to send samples, instead of interviewing with them, I *always*
include a short description and explanation with the following:
*       Was it an update or a new document?
*       Print or online or both?
*       Team effort or just me?
*       What  constraints was I working under (schedule, tools, etc.)?
If it is an update, I also try to inculde the 'before' of the document,
and point out what I was trying to accomplish with a redesign or
rewrite.
In a way, your samples are an interview.  Try and provide as much
background as possible it you can't be there with the samples.

steve arrants