RE: Applying On-Line
When I get unsolicited resumes (no, we are not hiring, I have a crew and
they are good), most of the time they are in Word. The first thing I do is
see if the writer used Styles appropriately or at all. It is an example of
how well the writer knows and uses Word, which tells me a lot about their
work patterns and habits. I know if the writer understand structured
documentation. This is important to us.
And then Dave added:
I would not interview a technical writer who submitted a resume in Word
format in which all paragraphs used the Normal style. It's that simple.
If you want an interview and you choose to submit your resume in Word
format, it'll have to be example of a *properly constructed* Word
document.
Wow.
I've been a tech writer for a long time. I've done book design, I've
done a lot of template work, and I've created a whole lot of style
sheets, mostly in frame but occasionally in Word that have been used by
dozens of writers over many years.
It never even occurred to me to create styles for a resume, other than
perhaps simple ones that got the job done. A resume is an individual,
one or two-page, one-off document. It doesn't need a lot of hardcore
template work. Style sheets are for ongoing writer use within the tool
to conform to a specific look across multiple documents and document
sets. Its a different task and a different use of the tool.
If in an interview someone asked me why I didn't use styles in my resume
I would be happy to give this explanation. And I would be happy to give
them examples of my template work if template work was part of the
job description. But to have styles in a resume as an initial weeding
criteria for resumes seems pretty arbitrary.
I suppose this comes down to the whole tool skills vs writing/tech skills
thing. I'm a great writer with superb tech talent, I do have the tool
skills, but I didn't bother to use them in my resume. If you're going to
weed me out purely on the basis of the style of my resume without looking
at the substance...well, OK, your loss. My skills are probably better put
to use elsewhere.
Laura
Email Style Based on: Rant Next Style: coffee
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
Have you looked at the new content on TECHWR-L lately?
See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ and check it out.
---
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.
References:
RE: Applying On-Line: From: David Knopf
Previous by Author:
RE: A cautionary tale
Next by Author:
Introduction and Breaking in
Previous by Thread:
Re: Applying On-Line
Next by Thread:
Re: Applying On-Line
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads