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Subject:RE: Should we hire this guy? From:"Fisher, Melissa" <Melissa -dot- Fisher -at- delta-air -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 5 Jun 2000 16:21:24 -0400
Seconding Michael Collier's opinion below...
<snip>
I would be wary of
offering a position to such a candidate, as they would seem to be more
interested in engineering than writing and might not stick with you very
long.
</snip>
.. and adding:
1) Decide how much time you have to edit/clean up the writer's work. Will he
learn to use a spellchecker?
2) If this person has no interest in being a tech writer, DO NOT hire him. I
have worked with engineering students who thought they would get some
technical experience by "doing time" in a tech writing position. It was
exactly like "doing time" for them, not to mention for those of us stuck
cleaning up afterward.
You have some serious red flags here. As someone else pointed out, you get
what you pay for. There are plenty of highly technical engineer types out
there, and plenty of great writers. The few who can do both are raking in
the bucks, with good reason as you are finding out.