Re: What employers want (WAS grammar... etc.)

Subject: Re: What employers want (WAS grammar... etc.)
From: Anne Halsey <Wrdfinesse -at- AOL -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 16:02:10 EST

Lisa, bless her little boots <g!> gets us off the grammar sniping
by asking what we want vs need in a TCer:

> -university education
For me, personally, no. Some of the best TCers I've ever worked
with have been college dropouts. However ... many companies
require at least a BA/BS to get in the door. Do I think this is
right or fair? Nope. But them as has the $$ can make the rules.

> -6 years experience
Depends on the position. I've had to fill positions where six years
of experience was the MINIMUM that would really allow someone to
do the job adequately. (This volume of experience typically - YMMV -
means that you've served as a team lead; done some scheduling and
resource allocation; had to juggle multiple concurrent projects/deadlines;
chosen and self-trained yourself on tools; negotiated deliverables and
receivables; and worked without supervision.)

Do all positions require this level of experience? No. But presumably
those that write the job requirements understand their own needs.

> -TW degree
Nope. And I'll probably offend some of my professors (sorry, Jim!) and
gradschool cohorts by saying this. But, given the choice of hiring a
newbie with a spankin' bright MS in TechComm and no (or very little)
experience OR hiring a proven campaigner, I'll take the campaigner every
single time.

For those of you currently pursuing a TC/TW degree, now's the
time to hear bells and whistles go off, and to think "internship"
and "co-op." Get that experience BEFORE you graduate, bunkies!

> -American citizenship
Undecided. I can't think of any place I've worked where citizenship
was a requirement. And, with so many more jobs than there are
qualified TCers to do them, I'm not worried particularly about giving
non-citizens a job at the expense of citizens.

> -eager to please
Nope. Eager to learn and excel, yes. Eager to please me? Nah.
Eager to please the audience? Sure and youbetcha.

> -works well under pressure
Yup. Very high on my personal list. I can't have someone on my
team caving at the thought of multiple (gulp) concurrent deadlines.
Or the inevitable stretch of pre-deadline overtime.

> -skilled with PageMaker/FrameMaker/MS Word/COBOL Programming
Nah. Tools aren't particularly relevant, IMO. If you can learn one of
the biggies in each category (HATs, DTPs, WPs, graphics
packages), you can learn 'em all.

> -sunny disposition
Nope. But I don't like working day in and day out with the gloom-n-doom
contingent.

In addition to the above, I want someone with a passion for excellence,
an eagerness to learn and demysify technology, and an insatiable
curiousity. The rest, as they say, will take care of itself.

JMO,

Anne Halsey
wrdfinesse -at- aol -dot- com


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