Re: Job Postings -Reply

[jkorczyk <jkorczyk -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

This issue deposits at least 5 to 20 messages a day into my mailbox, so I'm
going to slip out of the shadows and add my own two cents-worth.

I'm currently a technical writing student with "excellent writing skills."
If I didn't have those I wouldn't even contemplate entry into this field.
I've generated technical material in the past, and I continue to work on
projects--volunteer or otherwise--which will build my portfolio. To a large
extent I map my curriculum according to the requirements listed in these
job postings; that's what prompted my decision to complete my BA in
journalism and to minor in computer science. I expect to have to keep up
with technology; I don't expect technology to have to "wait up" for me.

Upon attaining my BA I'll still possess "excellent writing skills," but I
still won't be a "top performer." To be sure I felt a touch of resentment
to that term myself--but only because I knew I wouldn't qualify, NOT
because this employer had the perceived audacity to specify it. I suspect
that much of the flaming connected with that phrase came from other like
myself--not from real "top performers," of which there is room in ANY field
for only a few.

An employer has the right to screen for exactly what he/she wants without
worrying about how those who don't make the cut might feel. It's only human
to feel slighted when one's job skills fall short of the job description.
But that resentment might be better vented improving one's skills instead
of flaming employers who seek them.

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