Interviews and Portfolios

[Sybille Sterk <sybille -at- BOFFIN -dot- BEYOND2000 -dot- CO -dot- UK>]

Dear all,

I generally have a problem with portfolios. Often projects are created by
several people, not just one - so how do you show in your portfolio your
part in a project? The other thing is that, theoretically, you could
download whatever takes your fancy from some tech author's web site and use
it in your portfolio.

Usually, when I go to an interview I take with me my last manual or help
file (on disk) but this is only because I have to proof that I can actually
write in English as well as talk - I have the handicap (sometimes it's an
advantage) that my mother tongue is not English.

Generally, I find it far more useful (for both me and the interviewer), if
the product I'd be writing about is described to me and then I am asked how
I would tackle the documentation, i.e. what kind of documentation I would
suggest or how I would improve existing documentation. This shows far more
if the interviewed author is suitable to the task, can work within company
restraints and is the right person to work in this particular role.

In the last few interviews I've been to, I've always been asked this
question and it gave me and the interviewer an idea what the job's really
about and if I am the right person for it.

In any case, as the interviewer you don't want to know if a prospective
tech author can write about another product, but if he can write about
yours.

Just my thoughts on this....

Sybille

Sybille Sterk
Technical Author and Translator (German)
email: sybille -at- boffin -dot- beyond2000 -dot- co -dot- uk

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