RE: Preparation for a phone screen interview

["Sean Brierley" <sbri -at- haestad -dot- com>]

Am trying to recall my last phone interview. It was similar. I have a
job history of moving on every 2-3 years, so they added a question about
their concern for that.

I asked things like, what kind of professional growth, training, project
leadership is available to you [the tech writer]--I was interviewing
simultaneously with two writers, an H.R. person, and an SME project
manager. I discussed some of what they were doing, when asked how I did
it, I explained how I currently do similar things with the same tools;
my way was a little different. I also got asked how I interact with
project teams, and how I plan and setup my job--this was for a
"non-leadership," "non-management position." I asked about the work
environment. I also asked how family-oriented the company was, did it
have a Summer picnic that included employees' children, for example. I
had researched the company beforehand, and was comfortable with the
product line. I certainly did ask for both an in-person interview and
the job.

Anyway, I got a letter a few weeks later saying they'd found a
"better-qualified" candidate and thanking me for my interest.

I did want that job. I doubted they found anyone significantly better.
But, hey, allow my ego a little wiggle room. I'd never gotten a "we
found a better candidate" type rejection before. LOL!

Cheers,

Sean

-----------------------------------------
Sean Brierley
Software Documentation Specialist
Haestad Methods 
http://www.haestad.com 
203-805-0572 (voice) 
203-597-1488 (fax)
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Greg T [mailto:ggthomp -at- attbi -dot- com] 
 Here they are:

1. What was your experience with RoboHelp (WebHelp)?
2. How was working with members of the Product Development team?
3. Describes the stages of the documentation process?
4. Describe a situation where you had to be really creative to solve a
problem.
6. How many years experience have you had with FrameMaker and RoboHelp?
7. What was your experience with Netware? UNIX?
8. Do you prefer to be a manager or an individual contributor and what
were
your feelings towards both roles?
9. Describe your first month at your current or last job and describe
what
you think your first month here would be like (I asked the hiring
manager if
I could split this question up into two questions because I knew what I
did
at my last job was going to be very different from what I would do at
this
company during my first month:)!!

I spent some time looking at the company's website to learn about their
products and solutions. They didn't ask me any questions about them but
I
tried to weave some product information into some of my answers.

Each one of these questions spawned more questions to a greater of
lesser
degree, so we had more of a discussion rather than a strict question and
answer format.

I asked the manager questions about company culture, tools, economic
viability (this is hot point with me. I am tired of working for failed
internet or software companies), training for writers, and company
products
and how they were positioning them in the market place.


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