Re[2]: Interview Questions (a question)

[Michael Burke <miburke -at- WSICORP -dot- COM>]

     These questions are far closer to the types of questions I've been
     asked (and would be expected to be asked) at the (limited) TW
     interviews I've been on.

     At the risk of sounding insulting, the interview questions that have
     been floating around would indicate to me (TO ME) that the interviewer
     either did not know what he was looking for or much about the position
     being sought by the interviewee. IOW, they are the types of questions
     that one would find in an HR screening session.

     As evidence, I had one interview at a publishing company where my
     would-be supervisor rotely read questions from a book  on the
     interview process that his company published. Such as "where do you
     expect to be in 5- 10 yrs"; "name one problem you encountered in your
     last job and overcame"; and "what subject did you like best in school
     and why". He neither looked up from the list nor strayed from it
     during the interview. I got the job and was sorry. It was not the kind
     of company I'd want to work for, nor was he the type of supervisor I'd
     want to work for.

     The best TW question came from an engineer. He sketched the product.
     He then asked me to briefly describe certain aspects of the product.
     It showed my technical and writing abilities and that I could quickly
     learn a product and describe it.

     Michael


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Interview Questions (a question)
Author:  "cheri k." <tekgrrrl -at- YAHOO -dot- COM> at INTERNET
Date:    5/12/98 10:02 AM


I recently had a phone interview for a co-op position at a large
company.  I liked the questions that both interviewers asked.  Here
are the questions I can think of right now:

1.  If you had to hold one technical writing position for the rest of
your life, what would you be doing (online help, user manuals, etc.)?
2.  What sources did you implement in creating your manual (a writing
sample that I sent them)?  When I mentioned Weiss and Alred, they
continued to ask me what I liked and disliked about each of the texts
that I used.
3.  What do you think/know about usability testing?
4.  Can you work on numerous projects at once?
5.  How did you go about taking your manual from paper to online
(RoboHelp)?

I know most of these are not like the ones that others have posted.
But, I was curious as to whether these questions are at all familiar
in most TW interviews.  My current boss didn't really know what he
needed, so he didn't ask many questions (and he knew I was in the TW
program at the university).

Thanks,
Cheri

Technical Writer
Center for Sensors & Sensors Technologies
PS2, Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK  74078



> > Does anyone else have "interesting" culling questions, either
> > from the interviewer or interviewee standpoint?
> >
> > Eric

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