Re: Portfolio For a New Tech Writer?

[Glen Warner <gdwarner -at- ricochet -dot- net>]

> Glen Warner wrote:
> 
>> This particular binder has plastic covered sheets, sealed on the 
bottom. I
>> use it for printouts of my Word, FrameMaker, and Nisus Writer
>> documents, projects from class, articles I've written and 
published, etc.
> 
> You organize your portfolio by tools? 

No, not exactly. The order is actually chronological. The tools 
mentioned just happen to be what I used to write the documents. Nisus 
Writer I use for stuff I do at home ... though since I've got Office 
2001, I've pretty much switched to Word 2001 completely.

> If so, do you find this a useful organizing principal? Are 
interviewers
> interested in seeing what you've done with a particular tool?

Mostly, the interviewers just want to see that I've actually written 
*something* --! Interestingly, the last interview I was on, they 
didn't ask to see my portfolio ... but I was interviewing for a 
permanent position at the last place I temped, and I suspect my boss 
may have passed on the last template I worked on (a form with a few 
drop-down menus and lotsa VBA code), as well as its FM equivalent 
(without any code, alas).

> The reason I'm asking is that I haven't heard of anyone else 
organizing
> the material this way.
> 
> I used to organize by project, with my most recent work at the front 
of
> the portfolio. That was low maintenance, but I realized recently 
that it
> wasn't the most useful way to showcase my experience. I have since
> reorganized into different categories (for example, manuals, 
marketing
> material, news releases, ad campaigns, and the ever-popular misc.). I
> haven't had the chance to try the new arrangement out yet, but I hope
> that it will help interviewers focus on what they're interested in, 
and
> make talking about the work easier.
> 
> Anybody else organize their portfolio any other way?

The URL for the About.com forums I mentioned previously suggests just 
taking what's necessary to get the job ... that is, if the job calls 
for manuals written in Word, bring samples of those. RoboHelp? 
Bring screenshots.

Of course, when you're new at this, as I am (more or less), you just 
bring everything! :o)

Of course ... unless it's one of those 'multi-media' jobs, leave your 
unsold TV scripts at home!

--gdw

> -- 
> Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"We utilized a copper-based circular binary random number generator to 
determine which chip would best suit our needs." 
-- 'Chose-a-vendor-by-flipping-a-penny'Bert


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

*** 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

TECH*COMM 2001 Conference, July 15-18 in Washington, DC
The Help Technology Conference, August 21-24 in Boston, MA
Details and online registration at http://www.SolutionsEvents.com


---
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.