Re: Why they don't ask for candidates by technology skills.

Subject: Re: Why they don't ask for candidates by technology skills.
From: GeneK <gene -at- genek -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 08:39:51 -0800


This is common because most recruiters - as well as most hiring managers who haven't been writers themselves - haven't
the foggiest notion of the research and writing process and are going off buzzwords gleaned from badly written standard
position descriptions or a frustrated demand from someone who said "get me someone who knows <whatever tool the
previous writer was using>" because they don't know what the other available tools are. The other recruiting habit that
always fills me with wonderment is the ad that calls for a writer with so many technical qualifications that a candidate who
actually had them all would be qualified to pursue a position as an SME, rather than the ability to assimilate the unintelligible
ramblings of the average SME and translate them into documents that are actually user-friendly. One of the first things I've
done upon assuming management of every publications group I've ever run has been to rewrite the job descriptions so
that they actually describe productive researching writers rather than people who spend 20 hours a week working with
every software demo that comes along.

Gene Kim-Eng



At 03:06 AM 2/20/2003 -0600, Robert H. Strickland wrote:

What seems odd to me is that recruiters are so preoccupied with tools. They say, "What have you got?", which translates to, "What tools do you know how to use." More valuable questions might be, "Can you diagram a process from start to finish?" or "Can you develop a coherent paragraph on a topic?." And, as John Posada reflected, a question or two about familiarity technology might be useful.



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

Buy or upgrade to RoboHelp X3 today and receive the WebHelp
Merge Module for FREE ($299 value). RoboHelp X3's all-new
features include conditional text, completely re-engineered
printed documentation output, Context-sensitive Help Toolkit,
single-source layouts, and more!
Order online today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l


---
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.



References:
Re: Why they don't ask for candidates by technology skills.: From: Robert H. Strickland

Previous by Author: RE: Re: Why they don't ask for candidates by technology skills.
Next by Author: Re: Need real-world information about Framemaker
Previous by Thread: Re: Why they don't ask for candidates by technology skills.
Next by Thread: Re: Why they don't ask for candidates by technology skills.


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


Sponsored Ads