Ask them to combine some short documents using single-sourcing features,
and see how they do it, whether they use shared book, text insets,
variables, etc.
But I disagree that it's not important to have a good technical writer,
and that it's more important to know FM well. You need both, and you
could always send him/her to an advanced FM course. In my opinion it's
more important that they have a good technical aptitude and are good at
explaining things. I would hire someone who at least knows FM though.
--
Shmuel Wolfson
Technical Writer
058-763-7133
On 16-Apr-18 5:36 PM, Robert Lauriston wrote:
If I had a badly maintained FrameMaker book with a lot of cruft on the
reference pages, inconsistent styles, and so on, I'd ask them to
identify problems and say how they'd clean them up.
I'd ask to see one or more templates they'd created and have them
detail the process of creating a new book from them.
Actually, the first thing I'd suggest would be to consider whether
it's time to move on from FrameMaker.
On Sun, Apr 15, 2018 at 9:31 AM, Carol J. Elkins
<[email protected]> wrote:
Over the next couple of years, I need to help my major client find and train
an in-house replacement for me as I wind down my freelance practice. They
will not consider an independent contractor next time, so it may be harder
to recruit and identify someone with the required skills. I've built 20
years of documentation for this client in unstructured Framemaker, and
managing these thousands of documents and books depends less on someone
being a good technical writer than being an excellent Framemaker user.
For those of you who are corporate employers, I'd like to know how you
screen candidates to identify those who truly are advanced Framemaker users.
Is there a test you employ? Do you ask them to build a template from
scratch? Are there certifications that you require? Do you use a recruiting
service? How would you locate qualified candidates (in addition to posting
to Frameusers)?
Note that I am NOT recruiting; that is still a few years down the road 8-).
I just need to start thinking about the best way to replace myself. My
long-time designated backup is also planning to retire in the next couple of
years, so I have to start again to find the best person for my job. I am
willing to train them how to do my job, but it requires their already being
a master of Framemaker.
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