FWD: Hiring the best, comfort, and tech writing (was Conceit...)

["Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM>]

Name withheld upon request. Please reply on list.

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I thought you might be interested in this quote:

"Any man who's afraid of hiring the best ability he can find, is a cheat

who's in a business where he doesn't belong. To me--the foulest man on
earth, more contemptible than a criminal, is the employer who rejects
men
for being too good."

It's from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I'm not a major Rand follower, but
there are several quotes from the book that jumped out at me when I read
it several years ago.

In my seven years in this business, I have seen this happen over and
over. Right now, I'm seeing that go on in our R&D department because the
VP in charge of technology is a developer himself. People like him get
comfortable and stop learning. Then when somebody new comes along, they
are intimidated by a fresh approach. They are territorial, even when it
could ruin their department, company, or themselves.

When I interview people, I basically want the person to have the
potential. This means the candidate must be able to write well and
think. Thinking is the most underrated skill these days. I have had
junior writers help me in ways that older, more experienced writers
could not. The young writers ask the most important question: why?

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