RE: Technical Writing Tests

Subject: RE: Technical Writing Tests
From: "Bill Swallow" <wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 23:00:18 -0500


In some cases you cannot evaluate (I don't think the term test should
apply) their technical knowledge concerning company-specific
technologies. You can, however, see how much they can generally
comprehend through discussions.

An excellent way to evaluate a writer is by the questions THEY ask
during an interview. If they merely nod their head and smile and/or talk
about themselves, they're obviously not equipped to play the role of
technical writer. An interview is a fact-finding endeavor on both sides.
If the interviewee cannot ask the appropriate questions in order to a)
understand all aspects of that which they are tasked with learning, and
b) retell the facts in an appropriate manner, then they are ill-suited
for the job.

BILL SWALLOW
Information Design & Development Professional
tel/fax: 518.371.1867
wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com


::: -----Original Message-----
::: You should give them a technical test. Find out how much
::: they know about the
::: technologies you document and how they deal with complex
::: information. This will
::: tell you more about them as a writer as well as how they
::: process information.



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Follow-Ups:

References:
Re: Technical Writing Tests: From: Andrew Plato

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