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the web professional test - part i

Before I worked in IT, I was a writer.

Getting a writing job is not trivial. You interview. You submit a portfolio. And, you should expect take a writing test.

Here's what I recall about the writing tests I took:
  • They were timed - anywhere from 2 to 5 hours usually.

  • They had a copy editing section: either a series of sentences to untangle or a shoddily written passage to clean up.

  • You got a stack of materials ranging from 1 to 4 inches high - research papers, press releases, brochures, books, and so on. Information from these materials had to be transformed into either a press release, an article, a brochure, or sometimes all three.

  • There usually would be a multiple-choice section evaluating everything from knowledge of copyright issues and other best practices, to word usage, to spelling and grammar.


I neither miss taking nor administering those writing tests. But consider the alternative: Take your chances on hiring someone who cannot write their way out of an elevator?

I think not.

More to follow...

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