RE: RE: Tech Writer screening questions

["Susan Brown" <sbrown -at- texar -dot- com>]

Hi, Hi!!

	I should probably make a couple of things clear. First off - although it is
part of my list of questions, the hobbies, pets thing doesn't necessarily
get asked of everyone. Some people project a perimeter that you know they
would be uncomfortable if you crossed it. Other people - for example a
fellow I interviewed yesterday - almost jump at the chance to talk about
their entire self - not just their techwriter self.

	Also, I do not ask this as part of a 'will they fit - have common
interests' thing. This is a way of finding out how a person approaches life.
Even more importantly, it lets you gauge other things. For example, if they
have been' dead' until then, but come a live when they have a chance to talk
about something that really captures them, that tells you some very
significant things about them, their approach to/interest in the work you
have, etc. etc.

	It may be a function of the company I was lucky enough to be hired by, and
it is certainly different from most other places that I work, but one of the
things that makes my job a joy is the multifaceted nature, rampant
enthusiasm, and heartfelt commitment of every single employee here to the
company, our product, our vision, and each other. I have never seen a work
place so free of ego, blame, pedants, and pointy-haired ones as Texar is. Or
a place so full of people who are musicians, artists, writers, pastry cooks,
soccer players, paintball enthusiasts - the list is way too long to
enumerate more. This is a 'renaissance' collection of people.

	I guess what it boils down to is that skills are good, and people must have
them, but they aren't all that count.

	I was hired to do a management job I had no direct experience doing. I had
managed in other fields, started and successfully run 2 different
businesses, but had never done the exact job they needed done. But . . . . .
they caught my passion for what I do, my intellectual eagerness, my
commitment to the jobs I undertake and the people I work with, and decided
that I was the kind of person they wanted to do the job.

	For which I will be eternally grateful.

Susan Brown [ mailto:sbrown -at- texar -dot- com ]
Senior Documentation Specialist

Texar Corporation
1101 Prince of Wales Drive, Suite 135
Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3W7
613 274 2248
Fax: 613 274 2204

"I am not young enough to know everything."
          - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
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