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In my experience as a manager, it's not just senior people who object to those tests. It's HR. We were told that unless we could guarantee that the exact same test was given under the exact same circumstances to all applicants, we could be exposing the company to discrimination lawsuits. So we were, in effect, told to stop doing them.
I agree that, particularly for editing, it's hard to determine level of competence without a test, but it IS possible. Most editors I know have before, markup, and after samples that they can show. In a way, that's probably more evidence than most writers can come up with.
From: Connie Giordano <connie -at- therightwords -dot- com>
Subject: RE: Editing/Writing Test
To: "'Karen Felker'" <akaren -at- earthlink -dot- net>, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Sunday, March 17, 2013, 4:52 PM
The archives are full of discussions on "writing tests" (over 4,000 results)
and "editing tests" (over 700 results).
Many senior people in this business object to them strenuously, but I find
them useful, in conjunction with an in-depth interview and a portfolio
review. In my experience, you have to do all three. Relying on one to the
exclusion of the others presents huge risks.
I suggest searching Google or Bing for sample editing tests.
HTH
Connie Giordano
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+connie=therightwords -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+connie=therightwords -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Karen Felker
Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2013 3:23 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Editing/Writing Test
I suspect this has been discussed in the past, but I can't find it in the
archives.
We're about to start looking for a mid-level writer and want to find someone
with strong editing skills.
How else can we determine if a candidate has those skills but by giving them
a test?
And if you are in agreement on that point, can someone recommend a source
for an editing test?
Karen Felker
akaren -at- earthlink -dot- net
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