Peanut butter sandwiches

Subject: Peanut butter sandwiches
From: "Nancy Smith" <smithcds -at- ici -dot- net>
To: "'c. brown'" <frameguru -at- yahoo -dot- com>, "'TECHWR-L, a list for all technical communication issues'" <TECHWR-L -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 11:11:12 -0500

Perhaps it was I.

I said that when interviewing candidates for a
technical writer position, I asked them to think out
loud and tell me how they would explain "How to Make
a Peanut Butter Sandwich" to an audience who knew
nothing about peanut butter. (I got the idea when I
was working with southeast Asia refugees who had
never seen peanut butter.)

If the candidate asks me a question, I remind them
just to "think out loud" about what their questions
and about how they would present the information. I
do NOT say anything about jelly or marshmallow fluff
or a glass of milk!

What I learn from the response is:

-- How they ANALYZE the audience and what
ASSUMPTIONS they make about the audience -- what
questions they ask themselves; what their
user-advocacy attitude is likely to be.

-- How they would present and word a step-by-step
procedure -- how detailed and organized they are.

-- Whether, on their own, they either think I SAID
"and jelly" (tells me how carefully they were
listening) or whether they offer it as an option
(added value and creativity). Some have even
presented the option of cutting the crusts off the
bread!

It was fun, wasn't technical, and I learned a lot.
I never had anyone "flunk" because by the time I
interviewed them, they were already reasonably good
candidates.

I have no idea whether this would be at all useful
in explaining the task of technical writing to
someone else! (They might just think it's foolish.)

Nancy Smith

-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-10572 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-10572 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On
Behalf Of c. brown
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 1999 2:14 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: How to decide which font to use for
website


Hey:
Afew days/weeks ago.. (my head is in a fog as to
date)
someone posted a nice idea about having a group of
folks write about peanut butter.jelly sandiwiches as
a
way of explaining what a techwriter does...
does anyone have a copy of the post?
or would the poster, please repost

=====
Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving
to death.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^
Sponsored by Weisner Associates Inc., Online
Information Services
Moving your documentation online? We can help with
standards, planning,
or training. Visit us at http://www.weisner.com or
mailto:info -at- weisner -dot- com -dot-

Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp. Make your team
FrameMaker experts with
our Power User training for Adobe Acrobat and
FrameMaker. Delivered at your
U.S. site or ours. http://www.digipubcorp.com,
mailto:trainme -at- digipubcorp -dot- com


---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
smithcds -at- ICI -dot- NET
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
$subst('Email.Unsub')
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-
Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources
and info.





Previous by Author: RE: Are these words being used?
Next by Author: RE: Document Viewer Application Other than Acrobat
Previous by Thread: a P.S for one help file and multiple products
Next by Thread: Re: Peanut butter sandwiches


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads