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I hardly ever ask for writing samples, except perhaps from
an entry level or internship candidate. And the one time a
company I took over publications management for had a
writing test, I sat down and took it myself and couldn't finish
it satisfactorily with a clock ticking in front of me, so I scrapped
it.
My best predictors of someone's abilities are, in order of
preference, (a) prior experience working with the person,
(b) the recommendations of former managers, clients or
coworkers, especially ones who I've had (a) with, and (c)
talking to the candidates about their experiences and
methods of operation. If I can't develop confidence in a
candidate from these, we're probably not going anywhere.
Gene Kim-Eng
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pirjo Tinat" <ptinat -at- yahoo -dot- com>
Sorry for the late reaction - I'm on digest, late in reading messages.
I have been hired three times to different technical writing jobs, and never was
I asked to provide a sample or portfolio. Instead, I was required to take a
writing test that included both an editing and a writing portion.
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