Re: Interview Questions (deliberately veering from techie vsnon-techie...) -Reply -Reply

[Lisa Comeau <COMEAUL -at- CSA -dot- CA>]

>>> Marilynne Smith WROTE >>>
Why is it you ask these questions?  What do you hope to get out of it?
Just to cull out people who don't ????  From your description, I don't
know who would pass and who would fail.

Marilynne;
In answer to your question, here are the reasons I asked the questions;
" good communication with customers is key" (REASON #1)

>"What was the last newspaper article you read that sticks out in your
mind?"
(Tells me whether they are interested in current events-keeping current
is important, how can they be capable of updating a manual if they don't
even read a TV Guide?)

>"What was the most effective television or magazine ad you've ever
seen?"
(Tells me that they have an eye for detail)

>"Have you ever come up against a language barrier on the job? How did
>you get through it and communicate your point effectively?"
(If I'm hiring someone to write international manuals, they'd better be able
to make my Swahili readers understand without straight English...)

>"What is your favorite trade publication? Why?"
(This is both curiosity, and the thought that if they read a trade
publication, they care about their job)
>"What is your favorite novel?"
(Fiction and music tastes tell you alot about a person's personality, will
the Rachmaninov lover get along with the Metallica freak? Probably not,
so don't sit them in the same office... AND before someone bites off my
head for that one, I'm being GENERAL...) ;-)

As far as the rest of the questions, they were asked OF me, but I ahve
the idea that thier purpose was the same as mine...to find out whether
they could work with me and if I would fit in with the existing office
dynamics...which, by the way, I do! :-)