There is a whole raft of issues that most employers and employees do badly,
as a rule. One is ending of the employment relationship. Few employers know
how to end an employment relationship well; even fewer employees have that
skill. Thus far, in my life I have bid good-bye to well over 50 employees
and only 2 knew how to exit well. Both of these folks I remember fondly and
would recommend to any other employer, despite the fact that one of these
employees I did not even consider a friend.

The other area where both employers and employees do badly is in the initial
employment situation. In my view over 75% of position descriptions I have
read are poorly written. They either do not give sufficient information so
that a potential employee knows what is truly expected, or they give too
many details of the position.  To my mind, a request for a writing sample
should indicate what the employer is looking for. A simple " a writing
sample appropriate for the position" should cover most possible
misunderstandings. To ask a potential employee to guess what the employer
wants is both silly and counterproductive. All you prove when an employee
guesses what you want is that that employee tends to think like you do. In
most cases that is not a good thing. If most employees think alike in an
institution, that institution is weak. Diversity in cultural background,
economic background and cognitive functioning is essential to a vibrant
culture within any good institution.

The problem with the recent post, in which the author bragged how the
"writing sample" was used to eliminate potential candidates, is that it had
too much of a "gotcha" air about it. Stress interviews, and "gotcha"
attitudes don't get you good employees all they get are employees that can
survive in that particular culture.

Employers do much better when they lay-out clearly to a candidate what their
needs are, allow the candidate to make an argument why that person believes
that (s)he is good for that position, and then decide-based on the belief
that a particular candidate will be best to solve the particular problem the
employer needs to solve.

Of course, from time to time, you do get the immature personality that
submits a 400 page MA thesis for a "writing sample" (obviously not a person
who understands the word "sample" well), but generally those folks get
eliminated in the proper writing of the original position description. As an
HR friend of mine used to say "If you get more than 10 responses to a
position description, then you need to learn how to write that description
better."

All that being said, I have usually regretted reading anything more than
three pages of any writing sample(s) submitted as part of a job application.
This amount is sufficient to establish that the author can express an idea
clearly, and write at a level that would not embarrass an institution.
nburlakoff

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of Jay Heuman
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 2:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: writing samples

Hi Janey et al.:

The question of writing samples is tricky; however, I'll second my vote for
Diane's rationale.

A potential employer can safely assume an applicant knows the standards for
the type of position for which they are applying.  It IS a screening
technique
- like any contact an applicant has with a would-be employer.

The applicant who assumes a 402-page MA thesis is appropriate is likely to
be
omitted from the rest of the process as lacking an understanding of
appropriateness.  So, if an applicant is unsure about writing samples (what
type, how many, how long, etc.) . . . ASK!  It's better to ask for
clarification from, rather than complain to, a would-be employer.

[Similarly, an applicant who shows up for an interview late, wearing torn
jeans, a wrinkled tie-dye T-shirt, with offensive odors (pot, booze, body
odor, and/or "other") is unlikely to get hired.  UNLESS the museum tries to
recreate the Sixties - complete with lava lamps, "roaches," and books by and
about Georgi Gurdjieff or the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for sale in the gift
shop.]

The issue is appropriateness - not sadism or being dim.  (Though some
would-be
employers may very well be either or both.)  It's sad to think that writing
samples must be (for some jobs) a necessary "screening technique" when the
average museum job posting attracts dozens of unqualified applicants.

The peson who gets the job is the person who makes the least mistakes -
including the selection of appropriate writing samples.

Best wishes to all, sincerely,

Jay Heuman
Assistant Curator of Education
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
Utah State University
www.artmuseum.usu.edu
t 435-797-0165


>----- Forwarded Message -----
>From: Jane Teebs <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: RE: writing samples
>Yes, I agree. I was discourteous not to spell out the kinds of writing
>samples expected. Making them guess not reflects poorly on the sadistic
>character of the person asking, it makes them appear dim. This is not an
>employee screening technique I would brag about.
>Just being blunt.
>Janey

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