Re: A wee story for you...

[Anne -dot- Robotti -at- radisys -dot- com]

It's my turn to tell a wee story.

A while back, this company was looking for a 
project manager. They also wanted someone
to document processes, which is why I got the
call. I got to the interview and found out that they
had specifically told the headhunter that they
didn't want to see anybody without PM experience.

Luckily, I had learned from the headhunter that
two people had already been in the job and not
worked out. They were PMs.

So I said to the guy, "You know, if you're looking
for Project Management experience on my resume,
there isn't any. But you've had two project managers
in this job, how'd that work out for you? Maybe you
ought to drop that requirement, and look for somebody
who's used to dogging people for information, and
ferreting out what's hidden in the minds of *other*
project managers and SMEs, and who actually likes
the process of discovering and documenting something
that's in somebody else's mind. What do you think?"

I *so* got that job. I called the headhunter on my way
out of the building and they had already heard from
the guy!

And my point is, I don't lie about tools anymore. Yeah,
I did in the past when "the tools" were what I had to 
offer. Now I ask about the tools they're already using
once I understand the project they're trying to accomplish,
and I've never not been able to say, "You use that for,
what, source code control? I've never used that but
I've used ClearCase and Sablime, I'm sure I'll be up
to speed in a few days." I think I make it clear now that
no matter what they're using or want to use, it's almost
incidental to whether I'll be good at the job.

I determine the actual requirement that's represented
by the tools, and speak to that.

***********************************************
Anne Robotti
Technical Writer
Radisys Corporation
7 Clarke Drive, Cranbury NJ 08512
(609) 655-3111 x-326




Christine -dot- Anameier -at- seagate -dot- com
Sent by: bounce-techwr-l-70580 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
06/18/01 03:00 PM
Please respond to Christine.Anameier

 
        To:     "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
        cc: 
        Subject:        Re: A wee story for you...





There are lies and there are lies. Lying about where you worked is wrong,
not to mention amazingly foolish. Lying about your accomplishments, taking
credit for other people's work, is reprehensible. But the "Do I know Tool
X? Yes, I do" little white lie seems to me in a whole different category.
IMO, when employers ask "Do you know Tool X," what they mean is "Can you
hit the ground running and be productive on Tool X without requiring
training?" If you know you can learn the tool on your own, fast, I don't
see a serious ethical problem with answering "yes" to that question. Of
course, this depends on whether you really CAN learn Tool X over the
weekend well enough to be productive.





^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com

Sponsored by Cub Lea, specialist in low-cost outsourced development
and documentation. Overload and time-sensitive jobs at exceptional
rates. Unique free gifts for all visitors to http://www.cublea.com

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.