Hypothetically speaking (of course), let’s say you wanted to hire a technical writer to update websites, user guides, release notes, online help and generate PDF documents. And let’s say that you’re a recruiter, so you search the job boards for people with the skills you’re looking for and you send an email to those who seem like a good fit.

Then one of your responses brings this experience to the table:

Have been an Information Technology consultant for about 20 years, including training (around the US, Canada, Nigeria and the UK), designing courseware, developing applications and websites. Passionate about communication in all of its forms (including public speaking, technical manuals, user guides, website copy, documentation, etc.)

He sends you links to his blog and the websites he’s created so you can see samples of his website work and writing samples. His cover letter also includes snippets from his reference letters that make it seem like God Almighty sent him to you.  AND he lives in the same town where the job is located. Have you died and gone to heaven or what?!

He even calls me. Then I’m thinking, “Oh, wait a minute here.  This isn’t good.  My client is looking for ten specific technology skills, expert level in four of them and intermediate level in the other six.  This guy is expert in eight of them but has no experience with two of them.”

So, I explain why I can’t submit him and he explains that as a very experienced IT trainer, the nature of that field is having the ability to learn a new technology in one day and teach it the next day if necessary.  Learning new technology is not a problem.

Half an hour later, I get an email from him saying that he’s “in the process of taking this critical software for a ‘test drive’, courtesy of Adobe online.  As someone who learns and teaches by concepts (due to years of training experience), I’m finding it to be very similar to Dreamweaver and Photoshop.  This obviously makes it easy to learn.”

Does this guy ever quit? “Sorry, can’t submit you to my client.”  Next.

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Obviously the scenario above isn’t hypothetical. It’s just frustrating.  And I’m sure that in this economy, I’m not the only victim of this type of thinking.

I’m just sayin’.