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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /><meta name="generator" content="Docutils 0.17.1: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Guide to Hiring and Getting Hired" /> <meta property="og:type" content="website" /> <meta property="og:url" content="/hiring-guide/" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Write the Docs" /> <meta property="og:description" content="Welcome! This guide aims to help those looking to hire documentarians find the perfect candidate, and to help job-seeking documentarians find the perfect position. Its content focuses on tricky poi..." /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.writethedocs.org/_static/logo-opengraph.png" /> <meta property="og:image:alt" content="Write the Docs" /> <meta name="description" content="Welcome! This guide aims to help those looking to hire documentarians find the perfect candidate, and to help job-seeking documentarians find the perfect position. Its content focuses on tricky poi..." /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <title>Guide to Hiring and Getting Hired — Write the Docs</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pygments.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/alabaster.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/css/global-customizations.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/css/survey.css" /> <script data-url_root="../" id="documentation_options" src="../_static/documentation_options.js"></script> <script src="../_static/jquery.js"></script> <script src="../_static/underscore.js"></script> <script src="../_static/_sphinx_javascript_frameworks_compat.js"></script> <script src="../_static/doctools.js"></script> <script src="../_static/sphinx_highlight.js"></script> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.writethedocs.org/hiring-guide/index.html" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="../_static/favicon-96x96.png"/> <link rel="index" title="Index" href="../genindex/" /> <link rel="search" title="Search" href="../search/" /> <link rel="next" title="Interview with Aaron Thayer" href="community-spotlight/interview-aaron-thayer/" /> <link rel="prev" title="Book Club" href="../book-club/" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/custom.css" type="text/css" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" href="../blog/archive/atom.xml" title="Blog" /> <link href="https://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.0.3/css/font-awesome.min.css" rel="stylesheet" /> <style type="text/css"> ul.ablog-archive { list-style: none; overflow: auto; margin-left: 0px; } ul.ablog-archive li { float: left; margin-right: 5px; font-size: 80%; } ul.postlist a { font-style: italic; } ul.postlist-style-disc { list-style-type: disc; } ul.postlist-style-none { list-style-type: none; } ul.postlist-style-circle { list-style-type: circle; } </style> <script async type="text/javascript" src="/_/static/javascript/readthedocs-addons.js"></script><meta name="readthedocs-project-slug" content="writethedocs-www" /><meta name="readthedocs-version-slug" content="latest" /><meta name="readthedocs-resolver-filename" content="/hiring-guide/" /><meta name="readthedocs-http-status" content="200" /></head><body> <div class="document"> <div class="announcement-banner-wrapper"> <div class="announcement-banner"> <p>Portland 2025 speakers announced. <a href='/conf/portland/2025/'>Buy your ticket now</a></p> </div> </div> <div class="documentwrapper"> <div class="bodywrapper"> <div class="body" role="main"> <div class="breadcrumbs"> <a href="../">Home</a> » </div> <section id="guide-to-hiring-and-getting-hired"> <h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id1">Guide to Hiring and Getting Hired</a><a class="headerlink" href="#guide-to-hiring-and-getting-hired" title="Permalink to this heading">露</a></h1> <p>Welcome! This guide aims to help those looking to hire documentarians find the perfect candidate, and to help job-seeking documentarians find the perfect position. Its content focuses on tricky points in the process of hiring a documentarian.</p> <div class="contents topic" id="table-of-contents"> <p class="topic-title">Table of Contents</p> <ul class="simple"> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#guide-to-hiring-and-getting-hired" id="id1">Guide to Hiring and Getting Hired</a></p> <ul> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#community-spotlight" id="id2">Community Spotlight</a></p></li> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#interview-questions" id="id3">Interview questions</a></p></li> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#useful-skills-for-a-technical-writer" id="id4">Useful skills for a technical writer</a></p></li> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#consulting-and-freelancing" id="id5">Consulting and freelancing</a></p></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> <section id="community-spotlight"> <h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id2">Community Spotlight</a><a class="headerlink" href="#community-spotlight" title="Permalink to this heading">露</a></h2> <p>These interviews are meant to be a resource for new documentarians looking to gain insight into the work of technical writing by sharing the stories of our diverse community. Each interview tells the story of one community member and what they鈥檝e learned over the course of their career so far, along with providing some practical advice for new documentarians.</p> <p>If you are willing to share your story with the community, you can contact <a class="reference external" href="mailto:jobs%40writethedocs.org">jobs<span>@</span>writethedocs<span>.</span>org</a>.</p> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <p class="caption" role="heading"><span class="caption-text">Interviews</span></p> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-aaron-thayer/">Interview with Aaron Thayer</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-alex-ball/">Interview with Alex Ball</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-ashley-newton/">Interview with Ashley Newton</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-celeste-horgan/">Interview with Celeste Horgan</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-chris-bahnweg/">Interview with Christian Bahnweg</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-gaurav-nelson/">Interview with Gaurav Nelson</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-lana-brindley/">Interview with Lana Brindley</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-liz-harris/">Interview with Liz Harris</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-mandy-morgan/">Interview with Mandy Morgan</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-rachael-stavchansky/">Interview with Rachael Stavchansky</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-ravind-kumar/">Interview with Ravind Kumar</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-sarah-moir/">Interview with Sarah Moir</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="community-spotlight/interview-swapnil-ogale/">Interview with Swapnil Ogale</a></li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="interview-questions"> <h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id3">Interview questions</a><a class="headerlink" href="#interview-questions" title="Permalink to this heading">露</a></h2> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="interview-questions/">Interview questions</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="interview-questions/#some-recommended-interview-questions">Some recommended interview questions</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="interview-questions/#interview-questions-better-avoided-and-alternatives">Interview questions better avoided (and alternatives)</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="interview-questions/#questions-for-curious-candidates-to-ask-of-interviewers">Questions for curious candidates to ask of interviewers</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="useful-skills-for-a-technical-writer"> <h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id4">Useful skills for a technical writer</a><a class="headerlink" href="#useful-skills-for-a-technical-writer" title="Permalink to this heading">露</a></h2> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="useful-skills/">Useful skills for a technical writer</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="portfolios/">Maintaining a portfolio</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="portfolios/#what-to-include-in-a-portfolio">What to include in a portfolio</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="portfolios/#what-not-to-include-in-a-portfolio">What not to include in a portfolio</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="portfolios/#writing-samples-when-you-don-t-have-permission-to-use-real-work">Writing samples when you don鈥檛 have permission to use real work</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="portfolios/#where-to-host-your-portfolio">Where to host your portfolio</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="portfolios/#other-portfolio-considerations">Other portfolio considerations</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="portfolios/#portfolio-examples">Portfolio examples</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="portfolios/#other-resources">Other resources</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </section> <section id="consulting-and-freelancing"> <h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id5">Consulting and freelancing</a><a class="headerlink" href="#consulting-and-freelancing" title="Permalink to this heading">露</a></h2> <p>The pages in this section offer suggestions for things to consider when starting out and document templates to help you plan your business. It is designed to guide you through planning your freelance business step by step.</p> <p>The templates are provided as Google Docs. View Google鈥檚 <a class="reference external" href="https://support.google.com/docs/answer/49114">help center</a> for information on copying and downloading the files.</p> <div class="toctree-wrapper compound"> <ul> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="freelancing/core-values/">Core values and first thoughts</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="freelancing/business-identity/">Business identity</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="freelancing/business-plan/">Business plan</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="freelancing/project-planning/">Project planning</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="freelancing/cost-estimate/">Cost estimate</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="freelancing/one-page-contract/">One page contract</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="freelancing/workflow/">Workflow</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="freelancing/find-work/">Finding work</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="freelancing/get-paid/">Getting paid</a></li> </ul> </div> </section> </section> <div class="section"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation"> <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper"> <p class="logo"> <a href="../"> <img class="logo" src="../_static/sticker-wtd-colors.png" alt="Logo" /> </a> </p> <br> <p> Write the Docs is a global community of people who care about documentation. 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