Answer the Phone? Sniff Armpits? Top 10 Interview Gaffes

Hear the one about the job candidate who brushed her hair during an interview? Or the man who sniffed his armpits on the way into the interview room? They may sound like jokes but these are two of the top 10 gaffes to feature in an annual survey of the most outrageous interview mistakes by candidates compiled by online job site CareerBuilder.com.

Goldsmith, Belinda. Reuters (2008). Careers>Interviewing

Beatrice Santiccioli: Specializing in Color

A visual designer discusses why Swatch, watercolors and cooking can inspire the design of color. Louise Sandhaus draws out how Beatrice Santiccioli came to be the Queen of Color.

Sandhaus, Louise. AIGA (2005). Articles>Graphic Design>Interviewing

Before the Interview

People often turn down the chance to be interviewed because they're nervous, or afraid they'll say the wrong thing. Instead, think of the interview as a golden opportunity for you to convey your message. If perceptions about you, your school, or youth in general have been wrong in the past, this is your chance to set the record straight.

Media-Awareness.ca. Articles>Interviewing>Video

Calculating the Value-Added: What Hiring Managers Need to Know About Academic Technical Communication Programs  

Hiring managers need to understand academic programs in technical communication in order to evaluate potential new hires, especially for entry-level positions in challenging, high-tech, international environments. Changes in the profession, in the workplace, and in higher education have led to the proliferation of academic programs. These may offer advantages over non-academic training, in terms of cost, comprehensiveness, content, and control. Academic programs are also different among themselves, based on credentials, institutions, instructors, and program homes. By developing reasonable, informed expectations for what academic programs teach, managers who hire program graduates can experience the payoffs of lower-risk, more cost-effective long-term hires.

Rehling, Louise. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Interviewing>Management

Can You See What I'm Saying?

Watch your nonverbal communication and vaccinate against 'um' disease by submitting to videotaped coaching before media contact.

Yewman, Dave. Presenters University (2004). Articles>Presentations>Interviewing

Challenges and Solutions for Program Administrators

A discussion of challenges and solutions for hiring professional and technical communication specialists at teaching-focused universities.

Adkins, Kaye, Molly Johnson and Bruce Maylath. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Education>Interviewing

Choose Your Employer Wisely

For years, would-be employees have undergone scrutiny by employers during the interview process. In addition to our resume, we have to provide personal and professional references. We have to pass drug tests and personality tests. We have to prove our education and in many cases, whether or not we actually served in the military. It's all for a good cause of course, but rarely is the topic of employer suitability mentioned in the Job Hunting context. These last few years have been unprecedented in regards to company ethics and business practices. One doesn't have to look far to hear a sad tale of over-promised benefits, stock, and promotions from companies who are now nothing more than memories. The ongoing telecom scandals have even further rocked our beliefs in the stability and ethics of Corporate America. With all the recent layoffs and 'restructuring' now is a great chance for employees to take time out to evaluate their next employer. employee happiness is possibly the most important area of a person's overall professional satisfaction. Thus, it is not to be taken lightly. Nothing else matters if you go to work for the wrong company - not even if you've been out of work for a year and you simply need the money. Sooner or later, you'll be back in the same jam.

Souther, Christopher. GaryConroy.com (2002). Careers>Interviewing>TC

Circumventing HR: Effective Job-Hunting Strategies

A common misconception is that Human Resources departments exist to help job-seekers find their place within a company. In fact, the role of HR departments is to act as the gatekeeper. Savvy job-seekers know how to get around, over, and bypass the gates of HR, to connect with the decision-makers who can really help you. 

Hamer Associates. Careers>Interviewing

Clicking for a Job: Using Job Search Web Sites in a Technical Communication Job Search  

Technical communicators should use job search Web sites and other Internet resources (i.e., listservs and email networking) as part of their overall job search strategy. In using job search Web sites, technical communicators should choose carefully from four main categories of such sites: general job search sites, field-specific sites, professional organization sites, and specific employer sites. Each of these categories requires specific consideration. Job seekers should take into account the specific characteristics and purposes of the site and its users. To get the most effective results, technical communicators should also take special care when choosing keywords for job searches.

Bloch, Janel M. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Interviewing>Online

Comparing Apples to Apples: An Interviewing Process and Strategy  

An effective interview process better enables fhe selection of thoroughly qualified technical writers. This process is repeatable and ensures comparing “apples to apples. ” The seven steps are 1) advertise the job, 2) receive and review the resumes, 3) receive and review the writing samples, 4) set up the interuiezu, 5) hold the pre-intetiao strategy meeting, 6) hold the interoiew, 7)and hold the post-interview debriefing.

Sharp, Jane and Gloria M.D. Gyure. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Interviewing

Conducting Successful Interviews With Project Stakeholders

A simple, semi-structured, one-on-one interview can provide a very rich source of insights. Interviews work very well for gaining insights from both internal and external stakeholders, as well as from actual users of a system under consideration. Though, in this column, I'll focus on stakeholder interviews rather than user interviews.

Baty, Steve. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Interviewing

Conducting Successful SME Interviews  

Interviewing subject matter experts (SMEs) is one of the most common and useful methods for obtaining the information needed to create quality documents. Successful SME interviews require careful research and preparation in advance. During the interview, good listening skills, critical analysis, and the ability to maintain control of the range and depth of the interview with appropriate tact are crucial to successful outcomes. After the interview, give prompt attention to notes and any required follow-through. When working with hostile SMEs or those with poor communication skills, emphasize the strengths of the relationship and develop strategies to work around any weaknesses.

Lambe, Jennifer L. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Interviewing>Writing>SMEs

Considerations for Hiring Technical Writers

If you have a group of stressed out and overworked technical writers and need to add to your staff, hiring the right technical writer can be a challenge. The author provides some tips on the hiring and interview process and what you might look for in exceptional technical writing candidates that will best fill the needs of your group of technical writers.

Rastocny, Philip. Writing Assistance (2008). Careers>Interviewing>Writing>Technical Writing

Culture and Usability Evaluation: The Effects of Culture in Structured Interviews  

A major impediment in global user interface development is that there is inadequate empirical evidence for the effects of culture in the usability engineering methods used for developing these global user interfaces. This paper presents a controlled study investigating the effects of culture on the effectiveness of structured interviews in international usability evaluation. The experiment consisted of a usability evaluation of a website with two independent groups of Indian participants. Each group had a different interviewer; one belonging to the Indian culture and the other to the Anglo-American culture. The results show that participants found more usability problems and made more suggestions to an interviewer who was a member of the same (Indian) culture than to the foreign (Anglo-American) interviewer. The results of the study empirically establish that culture significantly affects the efficacy of structured interviews during international user testing. The implications of this work for usability engineering are discussed.

Vatrapu, Ravi and Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones. Journal of Usability Studies (2006). Articles>Usability>Interviewing>Cultural Theory

Document Hack (A Technical Writer's Journal): Interview and Negotiation

My face-to-face interview with the company was similar to my phone interview. So similar, in fact that more than once I found myself answering the same questions I had answered over the phone. They did throw a couple curve balls at me, however. The strangest question I was asked was, 'If we called your references, what would they say about you?' I was unprepared for this one, and I ended up talking more about my references than about what they would say about me.

Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Careers>Interviewing>Writing>Technical Writing

Document Hack (A Technical Writer's Journal): Phone Interview

When I originally spoke to the recruiter on the phone, she gave me a brief description of the job and asked for my rate. We negotiated the rate for a few minutes and came up with an acceptable number ($25 an hour) and she sent me an e-mail with the full job description and a short agreement asking me to confirm her representation and my rate. I sent back my confirmation and that was it for a while.

Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Careers>Interviewing>Writing>Technical Writing

Documentation Through the Discovery Process  

The technical writers at a software company learn about the software by gathering information and running the software themselves.

Kloss, Marilyn B. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Interviewing

During the Interview

Remember that when you speak to a reporter, you're potentially speaking to an audience of hundreds or thousands of people. Try not to appear negative or confrontational. A hostile attitude will make it difficult for viewers to take your point seriously.

Media-Awareness.ca. Articles>Interviewing>Video

Effective Interviewing: Get the Story  

In this article, Geoffrey Hart offers the following tips on how to interview a subject matter expert (SME) for reliable, comprehensive, timely information:

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2000). Articles>Interviewing>Collaboration

Eleven Tips for Getting Great References

It's often the final hurdle to getting a job and the point of the interview process when employers look for information they can't get from your resume or during an interview. Here's everything you need to know about references -- from whom to ask to how to ask them -- to guarantee you get rave reviews.

Krieger, Elizabeth. iVillage.com (2001). Careers>Interviewing

Employee Conferences That Matter

A troupe of disco dancers in gold bodysuits was about to hit the stage. Several of our corporate leaders—dressed as famous pop stars from the 1970s—milled around nervously in the wings. And I remember thinking, “What the heck have we got ourselves into?” I was part of the employee communication team for a government-owned financial institution: Farm Credit Canada (FCC). We were about to open our 2005 corporate office conference before a crowd of 500 people, many of them accountants. A campy musical opening could be seen as a risky choice. But here's what brought me peace of mind: I knew that behind the glitz, we had built our conference on a solid foundation of business thinking.

Mayne, Peter. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Interviewing

Extracting Pearls from Other People's Brains: The Art of Interviewing

Perhaps one of the bigger challenges faced by white paper writers is coming up with good content. The default course of action is to do a Google search. While this approach can yield valuable information, the best pearls reside inside someone else's head.

Stelzner, Michael A. WhitePaperSource (2006). Articles>Interviewing>Research>White Papers

Face to Face With Your Users: Running a Nondirected Interview

An interview is a funny situation. It's like a friendly conversation between strangers, but unlike the kind you may have on the bus. When chatting on the bus, people try very hard to agree with each other and to quickly communicate interesting information. Each person wants to be liked and adjusts the way they speak and what they say so as not to offend. This type of exchange is perfectly fine for maintaining civil society -- deeper exchanges can always happen as an acquaintance deepens -- but shallow banter isn't appropriate for an interview. You need to find out what someone is experiencing, what they're thinking, or what their real opinions are.

Kuniavsky, Mike. Adaptive Path (2003). Articles>User Centered Design>Interviewing>Usability

Finding That First Job  

Offers suggestions on finding work in technical communication for recent college graduates, professionals in other fields, and those who want to add documentation duties to their current jobs.

Block, Barbara M. Intercom (2001). Careers>Interviewing>TC