RE: Is interviewing for a FT different than Contract?

["Tanja Rosteck" <tsr -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Jane Carnall wrote:

> I used to hate this question. Then I turned it around...
> Now I ask *them*
> "Where do you see your company 5 years from now?" <g> This
> works on so many
> levels it's almost funny.


So true! I love asking that question. I also like to ask, "So what
your product's competitive advantage?". And if they say their company
is the market leader for their product or service, I always ask *why*
they're the market leader.

This is partly to find out more about the company and their products,
but it's also a great way to find out how good (or bad) internal
communications and culture are. If the interviewer is a manager or
senior staffer and can't give a proper answer to those questions, it's
really not a good sign.

Sadly, structure or company size has nothing to do with it. I
interviewed recently with a small software company for a TW job. The
person interviewing me was the VP of Product Management (or somesuch
title). He answered the first question okay, but when I asked why his
company was the market leader for their product, he drew a complete
blank (as did the other interviewer present, the Marketing director).
There was a good 15 seconds of silence while they thought about it,
and I never did get an answer (they laughed nervously and changed the
subject instead).

I had a similar response at a much larger company. While I don't
expect that the Documentation Manager in a 600-employee company is
going to know the complete corporate strategy off by heart, they
should *at least* know the basics of the product the company sells,
who they sell it to, and why customers are buying it. In fact, they
would *need* that information to be able to produce effective docs and
help services for their customers! So if they can't give proper
answers on those kinds of questions, it tells you a LOT about how they
operate and what you could expect if you get the job.

BTW, I still ask those questions now that I'm working exclusively on
contract projects, although I only ask them during a project
consultation rather than during an initial interview. If you're
interviewing for a contract position, the initial interview is more
about selling your services and showing the client the benefits of
working with *you* rather than someone else. Specifics about company
culture or corporate strategy are generally not as important when
you're contracting, and can be discussed once you land the contract
anyway.


*Tanja

--
Tanjerine Communications
web www.tsr-writing.com
phone 514.935.0463
email tanja -at- tsr-writing -dot- com


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com

Sponsored by Information Mapping, Inc., a professional services firm
specializing in Knowledge Management and e-content solutions. See
http://www.infomap.com or 800-463-6627 for more about our solutions.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.