Employment

I once submitted an application to a firm that specializes in computer security, and was granted a screening teleconference with a technical recruiter. I was told to expect an e-mail about progress of my consideration for the position on the following Tuesday, which e-mail never arrived. I sent the technical recruiter an e-mail to ask about progress, and got an excuse. Five days later, I got an e-mail from the recruiter which stated that the firm had “decided to move forward with other candidates at this time.”

Technical writers maintain samples of documents that they once created and add those sample documents to their professional portfolios. Even though I do not (repeat: not) have a portfolio for the sole purpose of employment, writing samples can be useful when seeking a new technical writing position.

Showing samples to prospective employers was always a grey area ethically. What we think of as samples are single copies of work to which we do not own the copyright. But allowing a prospective employer to examine these samples as part of an interview process is not worth anyone “lawyering up” over, especially since we as writers used to control access to the samples and since the duration of that access of yesteryear was enough for a quick perusal but not for any activity that would damage the copyright owner.

I’m happy with my current employer, but next time it comes to looking for work as a technical writer, I intend to remember that not all companies are created equal. Some companies signal to prospective employees how they can expect to be treated. Unsurprisingly, especially to adherents of Sturgeon’s law, more companies will signal that they will not treat you well, but do not despair. There are still companies that signal the significant respect that they have for their employees and prospective employees. These are profitable and respected companies, capitalism apologists please note.