Attitude Adj...not so UNimportant

["Bergen, Jane" <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM>]

On Thursday, December 18, 1997 12:02 PM, P.A. Gantt
[SMTP:pagantt -at- POSTOFFICE -dot- WORLDNET -dot- ATT -dot- NET] wrote:
> Let's put this in some sort of perspective
> shall we?
>
> This is *just* a listserv list.

Yes, it is. But we are also "just" humans. I think it would be
impossible to completely disregard the listserv postings. For example,
if someone came to my company for an employment interview, but over the
years (I've been on the list for over 4 years ...oh, my gosh!) I've had
several exchanges with someone and formed an opinion about that person
(bull-headed, quick-triggered, intellectual, nurturing, sloppy language,
or whatever). When I have to start narrowing the list of qualified
candidates, I admit that my knowledge of the person would come into
play.

I have had one person on this list write to me offline and tell me that
not only would she never hire me, but she would see to it that no one
else she knows would either! That's probably a bit strong, but I can
understand how someone's feelings get colored.

> A little perspective folks seems to be
> in order if indeed managers
> and those in position to hire base their
> decisions upon posts they obviously need
> to rethink their HR strategies.

Again, I don't think I would generally make a conscious decision to
disregard someone's qualifications completely, but hiring is ALWAYS
based on more than a resume. We tend, in interviews, to probe a little
to find out something about the person's personality, teamwork attitude,
ability to handle pressure, fuse length, and level of professionalism.
We are, after all, a professional list (last I heard).

> I have taken private and not so private
> hits because:
>
> I love the TN Volunteers.

 (other stuff deleted)

This kind of info is not what I'm addressing. It's the comments that (as
someone has indeed made) "all candidates with English (or Tech Writing,
or Computer Science, or basketweaving) degrees would be immediately
disqualified if I were hiring." That, to me (and if I'm doing the
hiring, my opinion counts) says a lot about a person's attitude, level
of professionalism, and more. If someone was generally known to flame
viciously every newbie-obvious post, that would say something about team
spirit or the ability to lead new writers.

So, we can be occasionally careless about our posts (and most of us have
at one time or other, myself included), but we should also be aware that
it's the only face we present to most of the other writers on the list.

Jane Bergen
Jane Bergen, Technical Writer,
AnswerSoft, Inc.     Richardson, TX
(972) 997-8355
janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com

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