Blogs

10 Interview tips for Technical writers

July 10, 2012
Posted by: Rahul Karn
Category: Beginners Guide Content Writing Technical writing

10 Interview tips for Technical writers and Content writers

This is post is about dos and don’ts for the technical writers and content writer during the interview. Some talented individuals lose great opportunities just because of minor behavioral issues. May these 10 tips may help you to nail your next interview.

I hate to take interviews but due to call of duty occasionally I have to do it.

Why I hate traditional interview- I firmly believe our current interview process is not suitable to screen candidate and need complete 360-degree change. Interviewees can give rehearsed answers and interviewers are unconsciously biased to pick candidates whom they like rather than those with the most potential. Referer program is adding more complexity to the process.

So far I have interviewed technical writing and agile coaches from different cities of India like Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, and Delhi, from different colleges, companies and experience level, sometimes even more experienced than me. In fact most of them were better than me it was only matter of time, luck or chance, but on the other hand, I also bumped with very weird or odd kind of candidates who was excellent as a resource but complete bizarre in their behavior.

Disclaimer: My only intention to write this blog is please avoid this kind of behavior to grab your dream job if you agreed with my opinion.

“YOU KNOW” Syndrome:

One of the candidates scored very high in a writing test, but when I get a chance to meet, you know he expected me to know his father name to a permanent address.

His every sentence was starting with YOU KNOW. Finally, I have to say I don’t know.

Rotating chair: It was her final round, in the interviewing panel my HR Manager and Director of R&D was with me. An interview was going well, but her chair was rotating at 180 degrees. Believe me, it irritated all of us.

Negative attitude toward the previous employer:

Yes, we all look for good opportunity and we have our share of problems in the organization that sometimes force us to quit. But the attitude and the word chosen for the previous employer made us negative on her. Diplomacy is key. It’s OK to say that you’ve had disagreements with your boss and/or coworkers.

Look cool attitude is not always cool:

It’s good to be original, and truthful, but sometimes silence is wisdom.

One guy arrived without a resume, reason? He does not have a printer, Cyber cafes were not open so early, Friday he returned late from office, Saturday went to resort with a girlfriend he was tired so he slept whole day and night on Sunday. So he was not able to take a print of his resume.

I denied interviewing him, not because doesn’t have a resume, because…hope you can find an answer. I was looking for the serious candidates who are really in need of a job, not someone for whom this is just one more interview.

I mean to say be serious with your approach.

I’m not a fish trader:

One gentleman was already working in one of the reputed organization and had two other good offers with decent increment want to check if I can pay more.

Sorry, I do not promote this attitude.

In the final round, he opens this truth that he got an offer letter from XYZ company can I prove to him that we are better paymaster. I send him to HR.

Salary negotiation is not my job.

Yo-Yo Honey Singh:

The T-shirt you are wearing might be the best in your wardrobe, but I expect not to see you out-of-bed look or Yo-Yo look during the interview.

No need to wear costly stuff be simple, clean, comfortable, and organized. Avoid fancy or party wear.

Semi-casual is also fine.

Fancy caller tune:

Kindly take out your precious half hour out for me during the interview. Your fancy caller and going out to answer the call even to tell your friend that you are busy disturbs me.

Mute options are available in cell phones.

It is advisable to switch off or mute your phone.

You and your resume are different:

I really find very disturbing when people do not remember what they have written on a resume. Hard to believe when you are saying your experience is more than five years and your resume is screaming something different.

Either you faked in Resume or your updated resume is not updated in both the cases I’m sorry dear.

Learn to write a great resume.

Be comfortable:

I want you to be comfortable in the boardroom, but I also want to be comfortable. I really become uncomfortable when you start calling me Rah, Rak or something that you like rather than my original name “Rahul”.

I too use slang’s with my friends in cricket ground but not in a boardroom. I do not like somebody invading my personal space.

Be polite, soft, humble and formal with your language.

Gum-Gum

One candidate told me he has a habit of chewing gum during exam or interview, do I mind if he continues chewing it? He was honest, but what you would have done, mind it or ignore it?

Avoid chewing gum, tobacco or anything during the interview. It is ok to take a cup of chai or coffee.

A Lesson to me:

I was interviewing a beautiful lady with good skills and experience before wrapping up the interview I asked her when you are planning to marry? Will you change the city after marriage? She paused and replied Sir; do you ask this question to male candidate also? I told her this may be an unparliamentary question but….I explained why I asked this to her?
It was a good take home for me.

One more tip is to go through the website of the employer and try to learn there domain, expertise, and achievements.

Read how to write a great resume.

Need your view. Feel free to post your comment and please also use below buttons to share it on Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

If you are interested in learning technical writing visitwww.informationdevelopers.in. For the latest updates, you can also like our LinkedIn page.

Aishwarya

July 10, 2012 at 9:50 pm Reply

Hard to believe people actually wore yo-yo t-shirt to an interview!
Rahul Karn

July 10, 2012 at 10:28 pm Reply

My observation is normally people do this after couple of year experience and they have argument"Look at my work not on my T-Shirt"
Brijesh

July 11, 2012 at 2:47 pm Reply

In interviews i have also noticed these attitude. "You know" can be neglected if interviewee using it as filler ( Though excessive use may lead wrong impression). Good Article Rahul..Gum Gum is superb
Rahul Karn

July 11, 2012 at 4:25 pm Reply

Thanks for your valuable input Brijesh.
satish

July 11, 2012 at 8:45 pm Reply

What if the interviewer himself/herself irritates you by rotating chair, calls on cell phone , not listining properly , talking with panel member.
Rahul Karn

July 11, 2012 at 10:36 pm Reply

Yes, Interviewer should also give high respect to the candidate and value their time, but as a job seeker you should not get irritated and show the high level of patience and keep wearing smile.
David Štula

July 18, 2012 at 7:05 pm Reply

This is really hillarious. Furtunately I didn't meet any of such people when hiring tech writers. And we don't have rotating chairs in the meeting rooms 😀
prashanth

September 1, 2012 at 10:47 pm Reply

in some of the interviews i attended, the manager went out twice or thrice to take up a call, each time taking more then 10 minutes 🙂
Rahul Karn

September 7, 2012 at 10:04 am Reply

Thanks Sonam for your nice words and encouragement! Hope you will provide your insight on other post of your interest as well.
Gurpreet Singh

October 19, 2012 at 2:02 am Reply

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

In North America, If you ask a candidate about his/her family, religion, marital status, or sexual orientation (gay/lesbian, or straight), your organization can be sued and you could go to jail!

In India, we start the discussion by asking marital status or family 🙂
Tanja van Uffelen

November 6, 2012 at 2:20 pm Reply

In the Netherlands, it's not allowed to inquire after marital status or plans to have children etc. Both genders quit their jobs or change to parttime for various reasons, including taking care of their parents, a sick partner etc.
Many, many years ago and in a completely different job, I received written job applications for a management position. I remember one that was written in green ink on a piece of paper that was torn from a notebook. OK, it stood out, but needless to say that the content got no attention.