Re: How To Choose A Good TW Was Re: Giving a surprise test to interviewees?

Subject: Re: How To Choose A Good TW Was Re: Giving a surprise test to interviewees?
From: Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2005 10:27:42 -0700


As I've said before, there is nothing wrong with giving a writing test to writers, but make sure you are testing for the a writer and not an editor. The best "writing" test I ever had was one where the interviewer gave me a scenario, then asked me to jot down the steps I would take to find the necessary information and complete the task, including a list of possible deliverables. That test gave the interviewer an idea of both how the I approached a task and how much I understood about the process itself. I must have done good because I got the gig and for more pay than they originally offered. I took a different "writing" test for an online Help development project that was more an exercise in editing and failed miserably. Ironically, I was asked three months later to take over the project because the person who passed the editing test had no clue about HTML, or the difference between a troubleshooting manual and an online Help.

--- adf1972 -at- yahoo -dot- com wrote:

The sad part is that so far, nobody [among Tech Writer
interviewees] has even been able to spot the
difference between "effects" and "affects"...as in
"The database upgrade also effects the XYZ
application." And we've interviewed people who have
been working as tech writers for a couple of years. The last candidate we interviewed couldn't even spot
the mistake in "it's paper tray jammed."


--

Al Geist, Geist Associates
From Concept to Completion
Technical Writing, Online Help Applications, Marketing Collateral, Web Design, Award Winning Video, Professional Photography
Office: 505-294-8855

Cell: 505-400-4128
E-mail: al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com <mailto:al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>
URL: www.geistassociates.com

"When the situation is absolutely hopeless, you have nothing to worry about."
Compliments of The Monkey Wrench Gang



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References:
How To Choose A Good TW Was Re: Giving a surprise test to interviewees?: From: Tony Markos

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