Re: Writing Samples

[Keith Arnett <keith_arnett -at- RESTON -dot- OMD -dot- STERLING -dot- COM>]

     Are the documents you wrote released to the public?  Are they
     commercially available through purchase, or via any other means of
     general availability?  If so, this type of restriction is pretty much
     meaningless and (in my opinion) non-enforceable.

     On the other hand, if the documents you wrote are truly controlled
     material (national security, trade secrets, etc.), and are not
     generally available to the public, then your employer may have a valid
     point.

     Did you sign a non-disclosure agreement when you accepted employment?
     If so, you are most likely bound by its terms--read it carefully.

     If you are going on interviews while still employed with the company
     in question, that probably rules out asking written permission to use
     specific documents as samples.

     If you are absolutely in a corner and unable to use the docs you
     wrote, I would suggest you write a separate sample doc similar in
     style and content that would be representative of your abilities.

     Regards,

     Keith Arnett
     Technical Writer
     Sterling Software, Inc./Operations Management Division
     Reston VA USA


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Writing Samples
Author:  "Mitchell  Moira E (MED)" <Moira -dot- Mitchell -at- amermsx -dot- med -dot- ge -dot- com> at
INTERNET
Date:    3/23/98 11:36 AM


Hi all!

Has anyone run into a problem taking writing samples to an interview?
What do you do if the company you work for says that you cannot give out
their documents even if you wrote them?

Thanks!

Moira Mitchell