RE: Tech Writer screening questions

["Maria Drago" <maria -dot- drago -at- undp -dot- org>]

Mary, I think you make some great points, and one question occurs to me:

if you're being interviewed for a TW job and have NOT been taken on any
sort of a tour, you've only basically gone a short path from, say, HR to
the person in the dept. where the job is located and you don't have a
strong sense of the work environment, has anyone out there had the chudspah
to a-s-k for a tour?  If so, what kind of a response did you get to the
request?  

As a potential future employee, I would be curious to get a sense of what
Mary speaks of in her message, but I wonder if making that request would be
received the way seeming too preoccupied with the vacation day policy may
cause potential employers to wonder if you're really who they'd want after
all?  

Interested to hear about anyone's experiences, from either side of the
desk........

thanks,
Maria

At 01:04 PM 6/15/00 -0400, Hightower, Mary wrote:
> <SNIP>
>
>Personality may be important, but hobbies really have little to do with
the
>job in the office.  Hobbies say things about a person, however.  I think
the
>purpose behind asking about hobbies is to gain insight about the person's
>personality or character.  Someone who jumps off cliffs on the weekends
may
>be a bit on the active or energetic side;  someone who enjoys sitting and
>reading or writing may be more of a solitary worker.  Someone who claims
to
>be "Trivia Master", well...oh, and don't wear an empty gun holster to an
>interview---I have no idea what that says, but it scares the heck out of
>everyone.
>
>If you would like to learn more about the person whom who are
interviewing,
>take them on a brief tour of the office and point out the parties your
>office is having, that you have a softball team, there are free Cokes in
the
>break room, every Thursday is squirt-gun day, the boss doesn't like
Dilbert,
>that Mary won the regional body piercing contest and so forth.  
>
>If the person doesn't respond favorably, then stop.  The information
gained
>isn't critical---how the person responds to you and others in the office
is
>critical.  Do they laugh with you or stare at you like a hunted animal,
>"Dear, God, get me out of here?".  
>
>I glance in cubes that I walk by on the way to and from the interview. 
Are
>there lots of pictures and personal articles or is it all work related? 
All
>that tells me is whether the office is more business or do they like to
have
>fun.  Which environment do I work best in?  
>
>It's simply extra information to better prepare yourself for the
environment
>you will be working in, if you the one being interviewed, or for who you
>will be working with, if you are the interviewer.
>
> <SNIP>