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> My point is, none of my clients would want to hire someone who writes
> flaming material. If that's a sample of their professional writing
> ability (and I, as a recruiter, have a right to consider it such),
> then my clients will likely have no need for them.
First, Internet message boards do not, in my opinion, constitute a
"professional environment." The Internet is a notoriously deceptive
environment. As such all Internet posting must be met with a certain amount of
skepticism. What a person writes on the Internet is rarely a good picture of
that person in reality.
Hence, I think the point a lot of us are expressing, David, is that your
criteria for judging writers based on Internet postings is remarkably shallow.
It has tones of unfairness and discrimination. Synonymous to saying somebody
is a bad writer because they have a foreign accent or ware ugly shoes.
I am a writer and a recruiter too. I want people who can get the job done and
deliver quality work to my clients. I don't much care about their opinions.
Yes, there is a limit to being self-absorbed or overly opinionated. Assuming
somebody who expresses an opinion YOU, PERSONALLY judge as "flaming" is a bad
writer, does a tremendous disservice to your clients.
I feel it is best to deal with candidates on a individual basis. Look at a
whole person and not just a tiny fraction of their life. There are plenty of
forms of expression I find distasteful about some candidates. I recently
interviewed some guy who works for this right-wing political group I loathe.
Yeah, the guy probably shouldn't advertise that - but so what. I'm not
evaluating his dogma, I am evaluating his writing skills.
Nobody is saying don't use your instincts. But rejecting a person because of
some nasty Internet messages is a very flimsy basis for a judgment.
Andrew Plato
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