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.
Subject:Re: Giving a surprise test to interviewees? From:windham -at- orsoftware -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 17 Mar 2005 07:06:56 -0700
I understand the need to weed out applicants who are unqualified or who
misrepresent their experience and credentials, but I doubt this test will
accomplish that. If it is as basic as you describe, and if an applicant
can score as low as 50% and still "pass," then the only people you're
going to eliminate are those who are marginal candidates to begin with.
Maybe I'm wrong but I would think most people who apply for a tech writing
job have a grasp of rudimentary grammar, punctuation and usage. You could
give this test to 10 people who are applying for a tech writing job and
maybe eliminate one of the them -- maybe. Then you're left with 9 people
who must be evaluated based on their performance in the interview, their
samples and their references. If the problem you encountered before was
the fabrication of sample work, then this test wouldn't have eliminated
that candidate and you would have had the same result.
That said, there's nothing wrong with asking a candidate to demonstrate
competence through a test or some other writing assignment. If you're
going to test candidates, make it clear up front that the interview
process will involve some sort of testing, and then come up with a test
that produces a meaningful result based on your company's requirements and
the requirements of the position.
WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT - EDIT AND REVIEW, REDEFINED
Accelerate the document lifecycle with full online discussions and unique feedback-management capabilities. Unlimited, efficient reviews for Word
and FrameMaker authors. Live, online demo: http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Your Ad Here! Have a product or service you'd like to get some attention for? Use this space to get the word out! Contact lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com for more details.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
