the interview question, from the interviewer's pov

[Robin Hilp <rolybear -at- YAHOO -dot- COM>]

O Collective Wisdom,

A hiring manager in one of our other offices asked me for suggestions
in interviewing a Tech Writing candidate. I sent her some ideas about
how my ideal candidate would appear in an interview.

Then I thought, as long as I'm writing these out, I'd like to start a
discussion here in techwr-l on these characteristics. Maybe those of us
who have to conduct interviews can compile a handy "need to have/nice
to have" list for our future hiring efforts.

Do you cover all or some of these points in an interview? Are there any
others you hope to find? What characteristics do you consider "must
have" and which are "gravy"? If you judge a candidate quantitatively
for various characteristics, what scales and red flags do you use?

(Most of these are good characteristics for any positin, not just tech
writer. Here, I've tried to put a "tech writer spin" on all of them
while keeping it reasonably generic. Of course, you can get a lot more
specific when you have a particular job in mind for a particular
company.)

1. Good listening skills. The tech writing job involves a lot of
interviewing, mostly with content providers and clients. The candidate
should be an active listener, understanding quickly what is said,
asking pertinant questions, and providing reassurance that
communication is happening.

2. Team skills and ability to deal with difficult people. A good
question would be: What techniques have you found successful in
encouraging reviewers and content experts to provide you with the
information and feedback you need? ... Or, simply ask for war stories
in dealing with reviewers :-)

3. Curiosity. For example, the candidate should have researched the
company in some depth and be both able and willing to ask pertinant
questions during the interview. Reading our website is pretty basic ...
I would want indications that the candidate has done some *extra*
research about <our company> or at least <our technology>.

4. Has a portfolio and knows how to use it. The candidate should have a
portfolio of high-quality work -- it need not be large but should be
structured to show either a range of skills or a focus. Look for the
candidate either to use it as a prepared, show-and-tell presentation or
to display individual pieces as examples during your conversation.
Please don't ask the candidate to leave the portfolio after the
interview, but you can request copies of work samples.

5. Understanding of the document life cycle. The candidate need not
have experience in all phases or aspects but should be comfortable with
most of the following list: Document Plan; Draft Preparation; Review
Cycles; Indexing; Editing; Formatting; Publication; Version Management;
Document Control. I would ask the candidate: "Describe how you would
develop a document from planning to publication." Or, you could ask
about each item specifically.

6. Flexibility. Is the candidate comfortable adapting to the "house"
style guide? Would the candidate be able to contribute to style-guide
evolution? Ask the candidate about working with style guides in the
past, and about any experience with style-guide development.

7. Graphics teamwork skills. The candidate need not be an artist but
should be able to use graphics appropriately or design a graphical
presentation that an artist can easily render. Ask about the
candidate's history of working with artists and with clip art, or ask
about the origin of illustrations in the portfolio. And you can ask the
same questions about layout experience.
===
RolyBear ICQ 1863181 (Robin Hilp)

_____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=