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On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 7:46 AM, Lynne Wright
<Lynne -dot- Wright -at- tiburoninc -dot- com>wrote:
> I gave candidates a two-part test.
>
> Part 1 consisted of a paragraph of randomly strung-together information
> about a piece of hardware (function it performs within the system,
> installation considerations, specs, etc), and asked them to create a
> point-form outline of a section for a setup manual. So they had to decide
> what information to use and what to leave out, and how to organize info;
> and figure out what questions they would ask SMEs to complete or clarify
> information. They got bonus points if they intended to include an
> installation diagram.
>
> For Part 2, I took a section from a software user guide that consisted of
> a one-paragraph description of a simple feature, with an 8-step procedure
> that explained how to use it. I built in errors like passive voice and
> run-on sentences; missing punctuation; typo in the section title;
> inconsistencies in how fields were named, relative to what was shown in the
> screen shots; used a shot that didn't show what the text was describing;
> added inconsistencies in font formatting (ie. some field names in bold,
> some not); and left one step out, so that the flow of actions clearly
> didn't make sense.
>
> They could take as long as they wanted to complete the tests; the best
> candidates were done in less than an hour.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=tiburoninc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com[mailto:
> techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=tiburoninc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Wroblewski, Victoria
> Sent: Monday, March 18, 2013 5:37 PM
> To: Karen Felker; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: Editing/Writing Test
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Karen Felker
> Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2013 2:23 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?
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Most helpful one I was ever a part of (on both sides of the hiring process
> - had to take it to get the job, and then dealing with it when we were
> hiring additional writers) had a couple sections of how you may generally
> get information from SMEs - somewhat muddled and with some incomplete
> information, information given in the wrong order ("oh, and before you do
> step 1, you should have checked this and this" halfway thru a paragraph) -
> and to try and write a procedure based on that. Now, no one (during the
> time I was on the judging end) got dinged for not getting the information
> that was incomplete (but it would have scored you big bonus points if you
> had caught it) but it was interesting to see which applicants actually
> tried to do something with the information to write a usable procedure, and
> which just split up the paragraph into single lines and assigned numbers
> without doing anything but a spellcheck and called it a day.
>
> Even the way applicants approached the test was a very telling sign - it
> does say something about you when you roll your eyes and act like it's
> beneath you to do it (yet still expect the job), and we even had one
> applicant who was given a week and several methods to contact us, and
> didn't complete the example "because I didn't understand the instructions".
>
> And just to keep it so writers couldn't counter back that we were trying
> to get "free work" out of them for doing it, it was all old examples for
> released products.
>
> - V
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> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> EPUB Webinar: Join STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel as she discusses tips
> for creating EPUB, the file format used for e-readers, tablets,
> smartphones, and more.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/12LyN2z
>
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--
Kathleen MacDowell
kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
EPUB Webinar: Join STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel as she discusses tips for creating EPUB, the file format used for e-readers, tablets, smartphones, and more.
