How to package your material for your next Tech Writing job interview

Here’s my list of necessary items that should be conveniently packaged when you meet with a prospective hiring manager for your next job.

1. Relevant writing samples.

By relevant I mean don’t bring samples from software documentation if you’re interviewing for a position where you’ll be writing Policies and Procedures. Give the interviewers what they need to see. And also:

• Print some samples in color to highlight features that get lost in black and white.
• Include process flows that are easy to read.
• Include samples showing use of Snagit or other screen capturing tools.
• Use extracts from documents. No one is reading these from start to finish.
• Remove the name of the company where the samples originated.

2. Binder for your samples.

Put all your samples in a single binder, with tabs numbered sequentially and labeled for each type of sample. If you’ve written several user guides for software applications, include a tab for ‘Application Documentation’ and put the user guide samples in that tab.

TIP: Use a medium sized binder that has a sleeve on the front cover for a Table of Contents (see 3 below) and a sleeve inside the front cover for your personal information (see 4 and 5 below).

3. Table of Contents with a description of each writing sample.

After you’ve put your writing samples in the binder, add a cover page to the binder. Put this in the sleeve outside the binder so the contents are clearly visible without even opening the binder. The TOC includes the following information:

• Tab number for each type of writing sample
• Tab name for the type of writing sample
• Short description explaining why you included the sample for this interview.

4. Your business profile.

Print out your profile from Linkedin or create your own one-page profile that is tailored to this job. If you’ve worked for years in the Financial market but are going on an interview for the Pharmaceutical industry, revamp your profile so it downplays the Financial background and indicates flexibility and easy transitioning.

5. Five copies of your resume.

You can hand them out to your interviewers – and there can be as many as five people who will be meeting with you. Remember that the hiring manager may have read your resume, but not everyone else you’ll be meeting with has read it.

6. One copy of your business card.

Leave your business card with the person who has shown the most interest and looks to be the one making the decision. This indicates that you can be reached directly to answer any remaining questions.

UML: Downloadable stencils for Visio… and more!

Even if you don’t use UML in your day to day activities, the Unified Modeling Language provides some excellent standards for the creation of diagrams.

Visio Stencil and Template for UML 2.2

UML Resource Page

A Simple Recipe to Help Build a Goal-Oriented Training Program

See page 4 of the PDF at this link for an excellent article that simplifies the process of building a training program in your department.

This article previously appeared in the STC (Society for Technical Communication) Management SIG May, 2007 newsletter. It was written by Saurabh Kudesia.
Along with other distinguishing qualifications, Saurabh is the Co-founder and Editor-in-chief of KnowGenesis International Journal for Technical Communication (IJTC), India’s first online journal for technical communication.

If you’ve been asked to document SOX requirements, read this!

Technical communicators are often asked to document policies and procedures that must be put into place to comply with SOX (Sarbanes Oxley) requirements. If you have been asked to work on such a project, this whitepaper provides a good overview of the SOX regulation as well as the best practices that should be followed. It was produced by a firm named tripwire.

Here’s a link to the document:
Sustaining SOX Compliance