Re: Inappropriate interview....(Long but I'm venting so it's ok)

["Peter C. Johnson" <raoul -at- MINDSPRING -dot- COM>]

Poor Diana. But boy, did this letter to "Dear TECHWR-L" hit a nerve with me.


>     I had a rather annoying interview last night, over the phone.

[...]


>     1. Describe a time that you acted totally inappropriate and
>     nonprofessional  in your work environment....and what was the end
>     result?

I think I would have said, "I finished a project early and under budget. It
had never happened at my company before. I was given a bonus of $75,000,
then fired for not being a team player."


>     2.  What are some criticisms that have been given to you about your
>     work?


"People are always scratching their heads, saying 'Damn, you work hard!'
and 'Wow, this is perfect!'."


>     3.  Describe a time when you tried to persuade another worker to
>     "conform" to your standards...and lost the arguement.


"Ever seen what a bicycle chain does to a scalp? I guess I shouldn't have
sucked down that bottle of Ouzo first. I think we were arguing about the
appropriateness of a sans serif font."


>     I'm kicking myself in the rear-end for actually answering these
>     questions (45 minutes worth).


I would be dead-pan and lie out the wazoo. "I am a perfectionist," etc.


>     And get this, when I was asked one of the few actual technical
>     questions, "What is an online helpsystem?", I proceeded to answer her
>     using technical terminology.  She responded by saying, "Yeah, and I'm
>     supposed to know what that means?"  Well then, maybe you shouldn't be
>     giving the damn interview!!!!!


I think I would have asked at that point who her client was, terminated the
interview, called the client the next day, and make a real strong
complaint. Hopefully she's saved you the indignity of working for them.


>     Ps:  I was also asked "When would you NOT use a SANS Seriff font?"
>     I've been a tech writer for 4 yrs, and honestly I felt this was a
>     "preference" question.  Is there a real answer?


Here's one I can give you a straight answer on. I am a graphic designer.
There is no convention save legibility and the abilty to read text.
Headlines are commonly done in sans serif type, and body text in serif. But
it depends. Letterforms give difference illusions of white space.  There
are no real rules, just conventions on what you can read or not.

In this case, I believe there was far too much white space between the
interviewer's ears to make much difference. Next time, pick up The Adobe
Type Library booklet (free from Adobe) and read until she howls.


>     Also, she asked me to name a reference book that tech writers commonly
>     refer to for guidance.


I would have said, "The Egyptian Book of the Dead," followed by the Yellow
Pages and anything by the Marquis De Sade. Well, after the Type Library
booklet.


PJ
infidel, and proud

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