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As someone who places writers on occasion, I'll definitely say that there's more to landing that gig than just whether or not your skills match the job description. I've had circumstances where I've "dumbed down" a writers resume because I knew the (non writing) hiring manager felt very threatened that this new, professional writer, would come in and take their job. They had moved up through the company from admin work to putting together basic documentation and been given the title of Tech Pubs Manager. The documentation was good considering the source, but nothing a professional technical writer would consider acceptable.
All new employees want to make improvements and show how they can improve the companies processes. Just remember, too many improvements makes the previous writer look really bad and if that person happens to be your boss, you may find yourself on the outside politically. In this economy, no one wants to hire someone who can do their job better, faster, and more efficiently... you're basically hiring yourself out of a job.
Knowing this, I dumbed down the my contractor's resume and told him to lay low... "Yes, I know the documentation is mucked up... just do what they ask, collect your check, and wait for the right time to offer improvements." and things went beautifully.
Unfortunately, unless you have a good placement agent, you're going in blind. Who knows why you didn't get the interview. Maybe you didn't match their needs, but often it is their real, unspoken needs not listed in the job posting that really determine the outcome.
Of course, YMMV.
All the best!
Bryan
Bryan K. Johnson
Senior Technical Writer
Motoman Inc.
(937) 847-3356
> I'm not convinced that all will be, nor that this is likely to be a
> major cause of the phenomenon described by the original poster.
I started to post this two days ago and then deleted the email. However, I'm feeling moved to
post again (after seeing this thread belabored for days :)
If you are not called in for an interview, the major cause is likely that *you did not fit the
description of what the organization was looking for*!
YOU may think your skills are a perfect match to the job description. The hiring manager
obviously thinks differently. I don't know how many cover letters I read during my last round
of hiring where the person wrote that he/she fit the requirements perfectly. But I can tell you
from having read through all those resumes and covers letters that there was no one who fit
my requirements to a T, and very few who even came close enough to warrant a pre-
interview phone call.
Speculate all you want about the shortcomings of the hiring manager, HR screener, etc., but
most likely it was simply determined you were not a good fit.
Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices. http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices. http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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