Re: Help! First TW job interview

[Suzette Seveny <sseveny -at- PETVALU -dot- COM>]

Okay - looks like I chose a good time to take a holiday.  Before I go though, a
couple of comments (since I won't be here if you flame me!):

1 - Mr. Barefoot was merely pointing out that the poster was not in the US and
therefore local business practices and labour laws do not apply.  This makes it
useless to quote federal statute.  I don't believe he said he approved of it,
merely that they were genuine in expressing their bias, which happens to be
legal in that country.  If anyone has a problem with that, don't apply for the
job.

2 - The list accepts technical writers from around the world, and to try and
impose American views on them is not acceptable.  This is a technical forum,
not a political one.  Other countries have different cultures and laws.  You
don't have to like it, but you have to accept it.  Either deal with the reality
or close the list off to American members only.

3 - A point already made was know your audience.  Someone was astute enough to
notice from the email address that it was not North American.  I can't remember
who that was, but I can tell from his/her perceptiveness that s/he is probably
very good as a technical writer - after all, it is being able to notice small
details that separates the good from the mediocre.

4 - Eric has already said this is not appropriate discussion.  Was there a
group that did not get that message?  Point number 3 above puts me on topic, so
maybe I'm safe, :-)

Good luck in your job interview Stan.

Oh - while I'm away - I came up with a couple of topics that you might want to
all get out of your system before I come back.  You might want to use this
opportunity to discuss any of the following:

a) United States laws, etc. including (but not limited to) internet taxes,
income taxes, W-4's and 1044's (whatever they are), the plight/strength of
Microsoft tech writers.

b) a comparison of all grammar, spelling and punctuation rules, especially if
they are different than American ones.  You might want to also argue a bit
about American rules, hey - why not?

c) Urban legends and current hoaxes

d) Whether Andrew Plato and Eric Ray might really be the same person, and if
one has to go, which one should it be?

e) Why people who make over X number of spelling and grammar errors in postings
should be banned from posting (makes the rest of us look bad).

There is only one caveat - you need to get it all out of your system before I
return.  Agreed?

This vacation is long overdue - see you all again soon.

Suzette Seveny

PS - don't send me email - I won't be here.

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=