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Wow, I always come into the latter half of the good threads...
I can't say I agree with you. I'm on my third job since April 2000 (various
bad choices on my part - I couldn't spot a sinking company to save my...
Job...), and I haven't seen a rise in the need for a portfolio. Sure it's
handy, but people didn't turn me down for not having a decent portfolio to
show.
I dunno. I don't approach an interview like a sales pitch. Maybe it's
pretentious of me to think this way, but I know my worth, and I know my
limitations. I discuss them at whatever length the interviewer wants. I
figure the interview is a time for me to learn about the company and decide
if I'm a good fit, and for them to do the same for me. It's certainly not a
time to say "here's a 600 page book I slaved over and got published to
press, perfect bound and everything". Sure, those props are nice, but I
glance over all that stuff I bring with me and get down to what the company
needs, what the company is like, what I can do for them, and what I'm like.
If it turns out I like the place, then I'll give them whatever they want to
see (within reason).
Bill Swallow
wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com
::: -----Original Message-----
::: Have you been out beating the bushes for new work lately?
::: An increasing number of employers and contract clients
::: are requiring writing samples as part of their initial
::: screening process the past couple of years. I would
::: estimate that my current work is evenly divided between
::: projects that come to me through referrals from past
::: employers and/or clients and projects from new contacts
::: I developed myself. Very little of the referral work
::: required that I provide examples of past work, but almost
::: all of the new contact stuff did.
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