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Subject:Re: Samples from *employers* From:Tom Johnson <johnsont -at- STARCUTTER -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 18 May 1999 12:50:37 -0400
Nearly six years ago I had almost that same sinking feeling. I did ask to
see samples and immediately saw areas where I could improve the
documentation. What I saw on paper was only half of the problem. What I
found after I was hired were files that were an absolute mess. I started
out with PageMaker files that had multiple text blocks where there should
have only been one. Headings were often in their own text block. Vertical
spacing was done by dragging text blocks (who ever heard of "space before"
or "space after?"). Sometimes even the same paragraph had multiple text
blocks. That would explain why the leading looked goofy. It took several
weeks to get things organized and then I was able to start making some
visible improvements.
It never occured to me to ask if I could sit down and look at their
computer files. Has anyone ever done that? I don't think it would have
changed my mind about the job, but having this memory refreshed will
probably make me consider asking should the situation arise.
Tom Johnson
Elk Rapids, Michigan - On the freshwater coast
johnsont -at- starcutter -dot- com work
thomasj -at- freeway -dot- net personal
-----Original Message-----
From: Jan Stanley [SMTP:janron -at- CONCENTRIC -dot- NET]
Chris asked, "How many people ask to see a sample of the
employer's work to see if they fit in?"
I didn't know enough to ask to look at _their_ samples until I
learned the hard way, several jobs ago. The first day on the
job, I was given a stack of nearly finished manuals to go
through, both to get familiar with the material and to
"proofread". After about three paragraphs I got that sinking
feeling, and it didn't leave me until I left the job a year
later. I spent that year scaling back the quality of my work to
"fit in" with the company/department, and feeling not only that I
was _not_ gaining new skills, which I sure like to do in a job,
but that the skills I had were atrophying through lack of use.
