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<ahem> I'm a tech writer with heaps o' technical skills. I've never had
an interview for a contract position that didn't involve a technical
interview, and an interview with the client to make sure I completely
understood what the client needed. I even passed a database-oriented
technical interview--aced it, actually--with my former consulting firm,
before the interviewer realized I wasn't interviewing for a DBA
position. A technical interview is a must--who cares what the writer's
favorite color is, or what they consider to be their greatest weakness?
...the Linux philosophy is "Laugh in the face of danger." Oops.
Wrong one. "Do it yourself." That's it. --Linus Torvalds
...............................................................
..........................................Julie Comstock-Fisher
..................................Technical Writer (Consultant)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Plato [SMTP:aplato -at- EASYSTREET -dot- COM]
> Sent: Monday, September 21, 1998 3:36 AM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Lying applicants
>
> In the past three months I have had five applicants lie through their
> teeth
> to me about their skills. They sat there in my office and blatant
> lied to
> me about their skills. For example, I hired a person (not from this
> list)
> who claimed extensive knowledge of Windows NT and relational
> databases. At
> my company, a tech writer with good SQL skills is like a hunk of gold.
> My
> clients are so desperate for writers with database experience that
> naturally, when anyone comes in the door with claims such knowledge, I
> am
> inclined to overlook some deficiencies to get them on site right away.
>