Re: Test assignment for a tech.writer candidate?

[Keith Hood <bus -dot- write -at- gmail -dot- com>]

How about the assignment I got in school: write a brochure about how to use
a chair. Audience: space aliens who have 3 legs and probaby have no idea
what a chair is. Great prep for writing a booklet that tells Grandma how to
program call forwarding on her iPhone.  :-)

Silly-sounding tests can be very valid; Seriously, how do you write a
how-to item about something you've never used or done before? Can you write
a how-to that is useful for someone who really has *no* clue? Such a test
can also show your skills/limits in researching and bracing SMEs for
information.

On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 12:38 AM, Alec Chakenov <alec -dot- chakenov -at- gmail -dot- com>
wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> If you had experience with hiring technical writers, what kind of test
> assignment would you recommend to assess technical writing skills?
> At one software company I was tasked with writing a help article about how
> to use an elevator. I thought that was so irrelevant and did not want to
> proceed with them.
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