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I Suppose It Had To Happen Eventually…

So we’ve been recruiting at work for the last couple of months in an attempt to double the size of my team. Well, perhaps I should clarify that I’m currently a team of one, so that’s just the one extra person we’re looking for, but still it’s proving tricky to find a decent technical author to take on the role.

It’s been a bit of an eye-opener, actually. You’d think, given that one of the key skills of a technical author is the ability to present information clearly, accurately, and concisely, that the candidates who have been thrown in our direction so far would be able to do that on the two pages of their CV, but apparently not… (it’s getting to the point where I’d be happy if some of them just used a spell checker).

Yesterday, though, came the most amusing development of the process so far. I’d just come back from doing an interview and was sitting back at my desk when my mobile rang. It was a withheld number…

Me: Hello?
Woman: Oh hello, is that Matthew? This is Woman from Recruitment Agency. Are you OK to talk?
[Aside: I get these calls from time to time, and still don’t know how these people get my details, given that I couldn’t have uploaded a CV to a job site in nearly 4 years…]
Me: Er, yes.
Woman: It’s just that I’ve got a role here and I was wondering if you’d be interested?
Me: Oh no, I’m quite happy where I am thanks. But just out of interest, what is this role that you’re trying to fill?

Woman: Er…
Me: It wouldn’t be at Software Company would it?
Woman: Yes
Me: It’s just that I work at Software Company, and that’s our vacancy that we’re trying to fill, so I probably won’t apply for that, if it’s ok with you…

Maybe I should have said I’d go for it. I’m pretty sure I would have known what I was looking for in the interview. Maybe I could even have referred myself and picked up the referral bonus. The second salary would definitely come in handy…