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Subject:Re: Do you answer 100% match jobs only? From:Walter Campbell <WalterCampbell1 -at- aol -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 24 Aug 2001 08:17:33 -0700
Marc,
As long as the position appeals to you, answer the ad.
I'm living proof that the job isn't always awarded to the ideal
candidate. AOL Mobile hired me as an SDK writer even though I had
limited tech writing experience and no real knowledge of programming
languages (makes you wonder what they were thinking!). What I did have
was substantial writing and editing experience (mostly journalistic),
solid computer skills (my knowledge of FrameMaker was a tremendous
asset), a sincere interest in developing my computer programming skills,
and -- most importantly -- enthusiasm.
Even though I didn't meet all (or even most) of their requirements, the
company brought me in for an interview because they saw potential. At
the interview I trumpeted my accomplishments and skills--as we all
do--and candidly admitted my shortcomings. Some folks advise against
bringing up anything negative during an interview. But my lack of
programming skills was like an 800-pound gorilla sitting in the middle
of the room: It needed to be acknowledged. I did, and I believe that if
I hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten the job.
Nine months later I'm still here, and -- as best I can tell -- my boss
is satisfied with my performance. I may amuse our software engineers by
asking newbie programming questions, but I've also managed to spot
errors in the demo code in our documentation. I hope by now I've proven
myself worthy of the position (or, at least, that hiring me wasn't a
horrible, horrible mistake).
One last note: an hour after my AOL Mobile interview I met with a
technical communications placement agency. The representative I spoke
with was unimpressed by my resume and skeptical that I'd be able to snag
even a junior position. When I told her I'd just come from an interview
at AOL Mobile, she seemed surprised they were even willing talk to me.
So it goes.
--
Walter Campbell
Sr. Technical Writer
AOL Mobile
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A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
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IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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