TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Interview from Hell - response to Brad From:"Doyle, Lindsay" <lindsay -dot- doyle -at- FUNB -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 2 Jun 1999 09:58:45 -0400
First Union Capital Markets Corp.
Brad wrote:
<snip> I can speculate why I did not get the job:
* The staff writer didn't appreciate the value and rarity of having a
co-worker who was both a subject matter expert AND a technical writer. (Both
her manager and director did.)
* The staff writer would-be supervisor was very young and
inexperienced and yet would be my supervisor.
* I was probably about 10-15 years older than she. I think it was a
classic age issue.
<snip>
Perhaps another reason you did not get the job is that the younger staff
writer was threatened by the fact that you were a subject matter expert and
she was not. That would put her in the position of supervising someone that
had more expertise than she did - this can be very intimidating. I was in a
similar situation in a past position (luckily it was a contract position) -
and I ended up being miserable. Maybe it's a good thing that you didn't get
this job....
Thanks!
Lindsay Randolph Doyle
First Union Capital Markets
Y2k Project Office
lindsay -dot- doyle -at- capmark -dot- funb -dot- com
704-593-7439