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Subject:Re: Test assignment for a tech.writer candidate? From:Richard Hamilton <dick -at- rlhamilton -dot- net> To:Connie Giordano <connie -at- therightwords -dot- com> Date:Mon, 8 Dec 2014 08:13:47 -0800
One variation on the options discussed in this thread is to give the candidate a task and ask him or her to use the interviewer as the subject matter expert.
That gives you some additional time to directly interact with the candidate and gives you a sense of how that person works with SMEs.
Richard
-------
XML Press
XML for Technical Communicators http://xmlpress.net
hamilton -at- xmlpress -dot- net
On Dec 8, 2014, at 7:24, Connie Giordano <connie -at- therightwords -dot- com> wrote:
> Daniel makes an excellent point about testing for technical writing and
> other writing skills. Content duties are converging at many organizations
> (and have always been converged at others, in my experience). Being able to
> write clear procedures is useful, being able to create material that helps
> the customer feel good about the investment (of money or time) is essential.
>
> M2C
>
> Connie GIordano
>
> On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 9:39 AM, Caroline Tabach <caroline -dot- tabach -at- gmail -dot- com>
> wrote:
>
>> When interviewing candidates you need to find a task that you don't need to
>> invest too much time explaining to the candidate what to do, and will not
>> take you too much time to review.
>>
>> We once asked candidates to explain how to do 3 basic tasks using Outlook.
>>
>> Not everyone was familiar with this, but everyone knew how to use email.
>>
>> Outlook was installed on the computer used, screen caps could be taken.
>>
>> It is surprising how many mistakes could be made.
>>
>> This was quite a few years ago, but it gave a good idea whether the
>> candidate could do technical writing.
>>
>> You could see if someone knew how to use headers, or knew how to write a
>> procedure, divide up a topic, use relevant information etc.
>>
>> So asking someone to write a help procedure about a familiar process is not
>> really irrelevant at all.
>>
>> You can discover a lot of information about the peraon's writing skills.
>>
>> Sent from my mobile
>> Caroline Tabach
>> caroline -dot- tabach -at- gmail -dot- com
>> On 8 ×××× 2014 08:38, "Alec Chakenov" <alec -dot- chakenov -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi everyone,
>>> If you had experience with hiring technical writers, what kind of test
>>> assignment would you recommend to assess technical writing skills?
>>> At one software company I was tasked with writing a help article about
>> how
>>> to use an elevator. I thought that was so irrelevant and did not want to
>>> proceed with them.
>>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>> Read about how Georgia System Operation Corporation improved teamwork,
>>> communication, and efficiency using Doc-To-Help | http://bit.ly/1pJ4zPa
>>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Connie P. Giordano
> Principal Consultant
> The Right Words of NC, LLC
>
> "It's kind of fun to do the impossible" - Walt Disney
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Read about how Georgia System Operation Corporation improved teamwork, communication, and efficiency using Doc-To-Help | http://bit.ly/1pJ4zPa
>
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Read about how Georgia System Operation Corporation improved teamwork, communication, and efficiency using Doc-To-Help | http://bit.ly/1pJ4zPa
