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Subject:RE: FW: New TECHWR-L Poll Quest From:Dan Hall <Dan -at- cooper -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 12 Dec 2000 09:20:54 -0800
With the danger of restarting the testing thread looming large...
An excellent way to test a candidate is to have them participate in a
project you're currently working on, if at all possible.
Here at Cooper, after my resume was vetted and I had an initial interview,
they invited me in for a day to actually participate in meetings. During the
course of the meetings (between SMEs and writers) I was encouraged to take
notes and ask questions. Then near the end of the day, I was given an hour
or so to do a "write up" on the day's meetings. The meeting participants and
a supervisor were allowed to comment on my participation and writing to the
hiring manager.
The advantages to this kind of test:
1. It is "real" work, as opposed to something made for testing, so it
provides a look at how the writer will perform on the specific tasks he/she
will be doing. (And besides, I hate the "make-work" feeling)
2. It gives both sides an idea of how the prospective employee will fit in
with the team
3. It provides some insight into whether the prospective candidate is at
least familiar with your tools (though they didn't ask me to create
templates, it showed that I knew how to do most of the basic Frame tasks)
4. The writing is authentic. I was writing up meeting notes into a form that
would allow them to be integrated into a doc. I wasn't asked to produce a
finished product in a two-hour test window. One of the biggest turn-offs for
me in standard writing tests is the fact that I'm being asked to create,
organize, draft, edit, and rewrite a document in such a short amount of time
that a good number of things are bound to fall between the cracks.
5. It allows team members to feel like they're part of the hiring process.
The fact that they'll be working with the new hire makes it nice to give
them a stake in the process, increases their motivation to make a good call,
and afterward insures that they have at least a small stake in the hire's
success.
6. Finally, it doesn't require the creation or grading of a subjective test.
The group looked at my work, liked it, and recommended that I be hired. And
here I am.
Dan
dan -at- cooper -dot- com
All opinions in this e-mail are solely mine, and
Cooper Interaction Design disavows all knowledge
of and responsibility for them.
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