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> My question is this: Is there any way for these
> candidates to provide a writing sample without
> violating their contracts?
Best suggestion I've seen on this list in the past for
writers concerned about breaching an employer's or
client's confidentiality is to create samples
reflecting on activities not associated with any
employer. Your prospective writers could write
instructions for how to perform some tasks to display
their task writing abilities. They could describe
some ordinary process to show off their abilities to
synthesize process activity. They can write some
sample memos to cover that area. And so on.
There are a wealth of non-proprietary areas that a
candidate can generate writing samples in that will
demonstrate their skills. (Of course, it IS extra
work for the candidate.)
BTW, I'm still not convinced that writing samples show
me what I need to know, but I'm not your client, so
what does my opinion matter?