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Subject:Re: Responses to "Gray hair..." From:"Dick Margulis " <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sun, 20 Jan 2002 13:06:21 -0500
Pat,
Editing is part of what I do.
Back when we were fat (we the company--I'm still fat), I hired another part-time editor to work with me. The gray-haired candidate had better editing skills but came across in the interview as timid about learning new technologies and a bit inflexible about taking direction, so I eventually went with a younger candidate. (The position was partly editing and partly writing/graphics/HTML, etc.)
What I discovered (or confirmed, really) in screening candidates was that age correlated positively with editing skills. So if I were interviewing you, all I would presume from the dye job was a level of personal insecurity I'd have to work around--a problem for me because I tend to be more direct than is helpful with insecure subordinates. On the other hand, if you are being interviewed on a regular basis by younger managers, they might feel threatened by your skills, and a younger appearance might work in your favor.
My two cents.
Dick
Pat Glass wrote:
>My heartfelt thanks to everyone who responded. Thank you for sharing your
>experiences and opinions with me. As to whether I'll color or not--I
>probably will. May as well avoid whatever prejudices I can (although I'm
>not
>ashamed of my age).
>
>Thanks again--and are there any other editors on this list?
>
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