Re: the interview question, from the interviewer's pov

[jane <judydh -at- TOTAL -dot- NET>]

Since we're all members of the same club, I think we should post here the
Inviolatable Rules of Recruiting.  These chiefly consist of:

1) Always post your job here first.
2) Techwhirlers get first draft, after which you may recruit close personal
friends.
3) Always ask the Approved List of Interview Questions, and ask them in
order of occurance.
4) Your writing sample shall be your posts to Techwr-L prior to the posting
of the vacancy.
5) Concise or humourous posts with wacky but Oxford-correct spelling get
bonus points.

This way, we can exclude pesky tech writers that aren't part of our secret
society.  It will also eliminate from the resume piles those engineers who
think they'd like a turn at writing, or those new university grads who
haven't got a clue how Microsoft Word really works or whether Mac is
superior to AS400.

I will start the ball rolling by offering these interview questions:

1) How would you redesign an elephant?
2) If someone else redesigned an elephant, how would you go about
documenting it?
3) If someone else told you they were redesigning an elephant but didn't
have a clue yet how, but they expected the documentation at 9 AM the Monday
after a long weekend, what would you do?
4) We take long lunches. Do you like sushi?

having a Dilbert day,

Jane

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin McGowan <mcgowan -at- LORAN -dot- COM>
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
Date: Friday, August 06, 1999 3:16 PM
Subject: Re: the interview question, from the interviewer's pov

>I think the best question I was ever asked in an interview (for a job at a
>telecom company) was this:
>
>"Pretend I've never used a telephone before. Explain to me how to use it."
>
>I had to explain the purpose of the phone, the different components, how
>they fit together, and then how to use them. I forgot to mention the dial
>tone (what the heck is that buzzing sound?), but they hired me anyway ;-)
>
>While the list of questions you provided are great, I think its best to
make
>sure you have the person demonstrate communication skills.
>
>Some candidates get nervous and just aren't "good" in interviews. Some have
>a portfolio that was created by the various teams they've worked in. My old
>group hired a guy who answered all the questions with perfect answers, but
>he couldn't actually write himself out of a wet paper bag.
>
>So, I think having them actually write a procedure, either on paper or
>verbally, is an important part of an interview.
>
>-Kevin
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Technical Writers List; for all Technical Communication issues
>> [mailto:TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU]On Behalf Of Robin Hilp
>> Sent: Friday, August 06, 1999 2:41 PM
>> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>> Subject: the interview question, from the interviewer's pov
>>
>>
>> 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
>>
>> ==================================================================
>> =========
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
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