A few months ago, I challenged job seekers to stand out from the technical writing crowd by putting together a Flash or Animoto presentation to help them learn new skills and differentiate themselves in a crowded market. I got a few responses to my challenge, but I felt this one was really worth sharing. Just this week, Yitzchak (aka Superhardworker) sent me a Flash video that outlines his reasons why he thinks we should hire him as an entry-level technical writer. If you want to make an impression, follow his lead and do something creative and different. Check out his Flash movie and make sure you click “View Full Screen” to see what I’m talking about.

Kudos to Yitzchak for rising to the challenge! There are many applicants for every job and it is up to you to grab the attention of the hiring manager and get yourself a chance to show off your talents.

Stay tuned for more super stuff next week.

I got a number of calls yesterday from potential new customers. Within 20 minutes of one of these calls, I was able to send the potential customer CVs, samples and references. How? Because I have a writing staff and I am not a “job shop”. Within an hour, they chose the writer and we arranged an interview for this morning. If they like my writer, they plan to have him start on Sunday. One of the other callers was looking for a technical writer with a particular skill set for an urgent job. I probably don't need to tell you that HONESTY is the best policy. I think that if you don’t have anyone available at that exact moment with those exact skills, then tell the HR manager or the PM that you don’t have the person.  

I was shocked that within half an hour, two other technical writing companies were culling CVs from random applicants for the same job I had turned down. It didn’t occur to me to advertise on every job and technical writing list in Israel because – given the short time frame – it would mean I wouldn’t have time to properly vet any of the applicants. When Tech-Tav recommends or offers a writer for a project, we take more into account than just the CV. Finding suitable candidates means a whole lot more than finding out whether the writer has mastered a certain tool or has a particular number of years of technical writing experience.

I’m not going to share all my secrets on how I successfully recruit and place candidates, but I will tell you this: before you choose a technical writing outsourcer or recruiter, I think you should always ask them the following questions:

Let’s say you’re looking to hire a new technical writer for your team. At the very minimum, you probably want a graduate of a technical writing course and minimal level of competence with an authoring tool such as Author-it, Framemaker, Robohelp or whatever tool your company uses. You will most likely add a few more requirements to your job ad, probably something like “minimum 3 years of technical writing experience” or “experienced Word user” before sending your ad out to the job-boards and Linked-in groups.

Disappointed in your applicant pool? I’m not surprised. When it comes down to hiring great technical writers, my experience has shown time and time again that the level of expertise someone has with a tool and how long they’ve been on the job has exactly zero correlation with how well they actually do their job.

So what are the qualities that hiring managers should be looking for in a new technical writer?  Here’s my Top 10:

1.   Technical know-how:  This does not necessarily mean a PhD in electrical engineering, but education or on-the-job experience in programming, IT, engineering, etc. would mean a candidate has an understanding of basic technology and how stuff works. The tech in technical writer has serious value.

2.   High level of integrity:  A must for someone with access to your company’s highly secretive product information. You don’t want your technical writer tipping off the media or the competition, so make sure you hire someone you can trust.