TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
If that's truly their intention, they fail miserably. (1) tests your ability to
edit material you know nothing about for style, grammar and spelling.
(2) tests your ability to create a flowchart, presumably using whatever
SW tool the company is using. Neither is a test of your thinking or
processing capability and certainly not your ability to distill complex
subject matter down to its critical core, because you are getting no
access to the actual product, its developers or users and thus no way to
determine what will "make sense" to the end users.
As a publications manager, my "test" for fulltime regular writers who
looked promising in resume and interview was a short contract gig.
My "test" for contractors was word-of-mouth recommendations from
their other clients. If you're badly in need of short-term income, you
probably don't have much to lose by taking the test, but don't expect
anyone who selects their contractors this way to be a satisfying source
of long-term repeat business. They're not looking for knowledge
professionals, they're trying to fit pegs into holes.
Gene Kim-Eng
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michele Davis" <michele -at- krautgrrl -dot- com>
> The tests are:
>
> 1) You get the description of a product, with directions. You have to edit
> and write directions that make sense to the reader. 1/2 hour timed.
>
> 2) Instructions and creation of a simple flow chart. 1 hour timed.
>
> Essentially they are to access you thinking/processing or the information
> and ability to write it into an understandable format.
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.520 / Virus Database: 318 - Release Date: 9/18/2003
NEED TO PUBLISH YOUR FRAMEMAKER CONTENT ONLINE?
?Mustang? (code name) is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to Web, intranets, and online Help.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! See a live demo that
will take your breath away: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l3
---
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.
