Portfolio samples

[Lauren]

Hi Melanie,

I've experienced the same sort of thing about samples, but, to some extent,
I started requesting the right to limited samples from employers before I
began work.  In the past when I had few samples, I would write up something
in a style that would demonstrate my work.  A recruiter several years ago
even asked for me to provide a sample document for setting up a new TCP/IP
connection in Windows with screen shots.  It was simple enough to do and
provided a demonstration about how I handle documentation.

It's rather straight-forward to develop a document for something that we
already do everyday.  The purpose of the sample is not to show the
complexity of the subject matter, but the quality of the writing.  So a
simple document about how to use email or how to use a web-based forum and
web-ettiquette would certainly provide a decent sample.

I have also used college essays shortly after returning to work after taking
a hiatus for school.  That was an interesting sample from my perspective,
the subject matter (Searle and Churchland on Functionalism) was totally
foreign to the hiring managers who read it, but it was a very good
demonstration of my writing ability.

Sometimes, creativity can really help.

Lauren
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lauren=writeco.net at lists.techwr-l.com 
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lauren=writeco.net at lists.techwr-l.com
> ] On Behalf Of Melanie Blank
> Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 6:55 AM
> To: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
> Subject: RE: Portfolio samples
> 
> I liked Gene Kim-Eng's comments. I have an extensive 
> hard-copy portfolio,
> but very few pieces online. In several cases, clients were extremely
> reluctant for me to have online samples at the end of a 
> contract job. In
> some cases, they could not allow me to take hard copies, 
> either, because the
> material was just too confidential. I respected their wishes 
> and explained
> the situation to recruiters or potential hiring managers. I 
> generally found
> them to be understanding about this issue. I'm wondering what 
> others have
> experienced.
> Melanie
>