Technical writers have no formal professional certification to demonstrate their expertise. If you need a position as a documentation specialist, how do you present yourself as a qualified, quality applicant? Here are a few articles that should help you.
#32225
Whether you're a manager or not, consider the following check list the next time an interview is about to commence. As an interviewee, these actions might give you a competitive edge. As an interviewer, they might help set your standards on how you rate potential candidates.
O'Keefe, Karen. TechCom Manager (2004). Careers>Management>Interviewing
#32289
Linguistic Bias in Personnel Selection 
The present research examines how hiring committees strategically use language abstraction to collectively account for their decision to hire a job applicant over the others. In addition, the authors investigate how work interdependence between single members of hiring committees and applicants and common affiliation to the same work organization affect the language used to write individual reports on job candidates. Results of the first study show that selected applicants were described with positive terms at a higher level of abstraction and negative terms at a lower level of abstraction. The second study supports the selection linguistic bias in individually written reports and demonstrates that members of hiring committees describe interdependent applicants and those belonging to their group with negative terms at a lower level of abstraction than other applicants. The implications of the findings for the wider personnel selection context are discussed.
Rubini, Monica and Michela Menegatti. Journal of Language and Social Psychology (2008). Careers>Interviewing>Reports>Language
#32493
Interviewing Technical Writers
Surprisingly, my first experience as an interviewer was as uneasy as my first job interview. I then realized that being on the other side of the table is not as easy as it is made out to be, especially if conducting an interview is unfamiliar territory. Later on, as I matured into this role, I created a style of my own and soon found it to be an interesting and inspiring proposition, though challenging.
Bhanu, Sindhu. Indus (2008). Careers>Interviewing>Management>Technical Writing
#33488
Learning From Museums: Kate Talks with the SFMOMA Interactive Educational Technologies Team
What can the User Experience field learn from the world of museums? Peter Samis and Tana Johnson of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) Interactive Technologies Team can help answer the question. The issues that they grapple with (and solve through inventive design) are firmly grounded in the goal of providing exceptional and inspiring museum experiences.
Rutter, Kate. Adaptive Path (2008). Articles>Interviewing>User Experience>Interaction Design
#33494
Nondirected Interviews: How to Get More Out of Your Research Questions
As user experience designers, a key component to nearly all the techniques we use in our practice is the one-on-one interview. It’s the basis of requirements gathering, usability testing, and task analysis. In order to remove our personal biases, expectations and opinions from the questions asked, I practice a kind of questioning technique called the nondirected interview.
Kuniavsky, Mike. Adaptive Path (2002). Articles>Interviewing>User Experience>Research
#33527
Interviewing for the Job and on the Job: Part III
This article is the last of three in a series. It’s based on my presentation at the STC Career Day and describes the six basic principles to follow for both job interviewing and informational interviewing.
Brooke, Andrew. Tech Writer's World, A (2008). Careers>Interviewing
#33528
Interviewing for the Job and on the Job: Part II
This article is the second of three in a series. It’s describes the six basic principles to follow for both job interviewing and informational interviewing.
Brooke, Andrew. Tech Writer's World, A (2008). Careers>Interviewing
#33529
Interviewing for the Job and On the Job: Part I
This article is based on a presentation I gave at the STC Career Day, held at Seneca@York, September 22, 2003. It describes the six basic principles to follow for job interviews and informational interviewing, including asking and answering the right questions, of the right people, at the right time.
#33593
User Interviews - Analysis Simplified
You’ve conducted your user interviews, but now you need to make sense of all that information you’ve gathered. These best practice tips will help you analyse the results.
Gray, Alistair. Webcredible (2009). Articles>Usability>Interviewing>Methods
#33702
Test Driving Your Next Employee's Skills
For the past few years, the buzz phrase in interviewing has been behavioral interviews. In behavioral interviews, the interviewer asks the candidate what has been done in the past in order to extrapolate what will be done into the future: past performance indicates future performance. I’m suggesting that the behavioral interview could be more than a discussion about behavior—it could be a demonstration of behavior. Test driving candidates places a demand on the candidate to exercise his or her current ability while under scrutiny. Thus, rather than hearing stories about behavior, test drives allow you to observe behavior.
Rieger, Daniel. TechCom Manager (2008). Careers>Interviewing>Assessment
#33848
The Interview Question You Should Always Ask
After you have narrowed the pool of applicants down to those with the skills, experience, and knowledge to do the job, ask each candidate one question: What do you do in your spare time?
Bregman, Peter. Harvard University (2009). Careers>Management>Interviewing
#33874
I think one of the hardest things in technical writing, especially for new hires, is to be assigned to document a product or feature that you know nothing about.
Technically Speaking (2009). Articles>Interviewing>Technical Writing>SMEs
#33879
Within hours of Tweeting “Who do I have to schmooze to get a job in this joint?” Chelsea Winkel received three direct messages, a much better (and as it would turn out, more substantial) turnout than anything else she’d tried so far. The key to making Twitter work for you is being proactive.
Duo Consulting (2009). Careers>Interviewing>Business Communication>Social Networking
#33889
Social Networking Web Sites and Human Resource Personnel: Suggestions for Job Searches
Social networking once meant going to a social function such as a cocktail party, conference, or business luncheon. Today, much social networking is achieved through Web sites such as MySpace, FaceBook, or LinkedIn. Many individuals use these sites to meet new friends, make connections, and upload personal infor- mation. On social networking Web sites (SNWs) that focus more on business connections, such as LinkedIn, individuals upload job qualifi- cations and application information. These SNWs are now being used as reference checks by human resource (HR) personnel. For this reason, SNW users, particularly university students and other soon-to-be job applicants, should ask the following questions: Am I loading information that I want the world to see? Is this really a picture that shows me in the best light? What impression would another person have of me if he or she went through my site? Although SNWs are a great way to be connected with friends, family, and friends-to-be, they can present problems when potential employers begin to search through them for information concerning job applicants. Many potential employees would be mortified to learn that employers could potentially read the personal information posted on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other SNWs. Searches on SNWs allow employers to look into what is done 'after hours,' socially or privately, by the applicant. A résumé may be just a snapshot of a job applicant, while other personal information may be found online. Many job applicants have learned the hard way that what they post may come back to haunt them (Rodriquez, 2006). Human Resources and SNWs Many companies that recruit on college campuses look up applicants on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other SNWs. What they find on these sites presents a dilemma for the recruiters. Students post comments that they may think are private but can be read by many. These posts can be provocative comments on any subject from drinking to recreational drugs to sexual exploits. Although they may seem innocent enough to the students who have posted them, college recruiters or graduate admission officers may look at these postings as immature and unprofessional. Recruiters are warning universities' career resource centers that they are looking at SNWs and that it would be best to work with students about how they are presenting themselves on these sites. The lifestyle the students are presenting online may not be what corporate recruiters or graduate school admission officers want in potential applicants.
Roberts, Sherry J. and Terry Roach. Business Communication Quarterly (2009). Careers>Management>Interviewing>Social Networking
#34021
The Cardinal Rule of Interviewing a Subject Matter Expert (SME) For a Document
A technical writer will periodically need to interview Subject Matter Experts (SME) to gather information about a technical document. More often that not, and especially within the context of software development, most SMEs are engineers and software developers. But they can also be mechanical, electrical and other types of engineers, hardware installers, network engineers, testers, site foremen, call center engineers, field technicians, sales or marketing people, local dealers, etc. One cardinal rule of interviewing an SME is to do your homework well, in advance.
Akinci, Ugur. Technical Communication Center (2009). Articles>Interviewing>Technical Writing>SMEs
#34224
What is it that certain people say or do during a job interview that makes them stand out? Why do some people struggle to find work, while others land a job in no time?
#34303
Seven Mistakes To Avoid On Your Next Job Application
Whether you are a web designer or a copy writer, if you’re going to freelance, you need to learn how to look your best on a job application. Having worked on both sides of job applications, I’ve seen enough to recognize what gets a person through to the interview and what gets their applications tossed.
Edmunds, Ryan. Webdesigner Depot (2009). Careers>Resumes>Interviewing
#34326
Analysis, Plus Synthesis: Turning Data into Insights
In this article, I will outline an approach to gleaning insights from primary qualitative research data. This article is not a how-to for creating the design tools that are often the outputs of primary qualitative user research—such as personas, mental models, or user scenarios. Instead, it identifies an approach to generating overarching insights, regardless of the design tool you want to create.
Ellerby, Lindsay. UXmatters (2009). Articles>User Centered Design>Interviewing>Research
#34670
Looking for a New Job - Discreetly
Most people change jobs more than they change mates. But no matter how many times you do it, looking for a new position can be tricky.
DeZube, Dona. Dice (2007). Careers>Interviewing>Professionalism>Ethics
#34687
What Questions You Should Ask at a SOW Meeting
At times, though, a writer is a bit overwhelmed at the start-of-work meeting. He becomes passive and takes in everything the client lays out without asking for more. That can result in some information that’s very important to the writer being missed.
Adar, Bryan S. Technical Communication Center (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Interviewing>SMEs
#34808
How to Implement Single Sourcing: Interview with Neil Perlin
Neil Perlin, a renowned trainer, consulter, and developer, talks about how to implement single sourcing. He includes a discussion of tools, pitfalls to avoid, and practical steps to take.
Johnson, Tom H. and Neil E. Perlin. I'd Rather Be Writing (2006). Articles>Interviewing>Single Sourcing>Audio
#34846
Today's organizations are challenged with attracting, developing, and retaining high-quality employees; thus, many firms seek to improve their recruitment and selection processes. One approach involves using realistic job previews (RJPs) to communicate a balanced view of the organization. The authors explored the effects of organizational culture (hierarchy, market, clan, and adhocracy), recruitment strategy (RJP vs. traditional), and personality (horizontal and vertical individualism—collectivism) on attraction to Web-based organizational profiles using a sample of 234 undergraduate students in a mixed two-factor experimental design. Results indicate that the clan culture is viewed as the most attractive. Traditional versus RJP recruitment produced higher levels of organizational attraction. Finally, predicted relationships between the personality framework of horizontal and vertical individualism—collectivism and organizational attraction were supported.
Gardner, William L., Brian J. Reithel, Richard T. Foley, Claudia C. Cogliser and Fred O. Walumbwa . Management Communication Quarterly (2009). Articles>Management>Interviewing>Organizational Communication
#35140
Best Practices in Preparing Students for Mock Interviews
Studies have shown the importance of employment interview preparation in boosting the confidence and performance of students and jobseekers when they interview. This article reviews several techniques for preparing students for mock job interviews and, hence, actual job interviews.
Hansen, Katharine, Gary C. Oliphant, Becky J. Oliphant and Randall S. Hansen. Business Communication Quarterly (2009). Articles>Education>Interviewing>Business Communication
#35526
I have been remiss at writing new content for this blog, and whilst this topic isn’t one that I said I’d post about (those posts are coming, I promise), it’s something I was discussing yesterday and so is at the forefront of my mind. Like many people I still use pen and paper when taking notes, and regardless of the type of meeting I stick with three basic categories.
McLean, Gordon. One Man Writes (2009). Articles>Interviewing>Writing
#35630
Jane R. in Texas asks for some tips on interviewing tech writers, especially when using assessment tests. Her company is about to hire their first full-time writer and they have not done this before. I’ve worked on both sides on the fence in the past, (i.e. interviewed and been interviewed) and picked up a few tings in the process. Hopefully, these will be of some help.
Walsh, Ivan. I Heart Tech Docs (2007). Careers>Management>Interviewing>Technical Writing
