Technical Writer applicants have rated the interview process at Isilon, A Division of EMC with 2.5 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 100% positive. To compare, the company-average is 74.3% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Technical Writer roles take an average of 6 days to get hired, when considering 2 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Isilon, A Division of EMC overall takes an average of 19 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Isilon, A Division of EMC as a Technical Writer according to 2 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 40%
One on one interview: 40%
Background check: 20%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Isilon, A Division of EMC (Seattle, WA) in Feb 2010
Interview
The interview loop took about 5 hours, including lunch at a nearby restaurant. I was interviewed by a mix of Technical Publications and Software Engineering team members plus a project manager. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
One of the engineers asked a question about how I would go about estimating the number of windows in a downtown block of buildings, which I didn't feel had anything to do with the position I was applying for.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Isilon, A Division of EMC (Seattle, WA) in Jul 2013
Interview
On a phone screen, I was asked by the lead technical writer if I was familiar with "minimalist" writing techniques. From there I went to an in person interview. I met with three people; a Technical Writing lead, a team manager and a developer, individually. No hot-boxing or intimidation techniques. Nobody trying to make you uncomfortable. The lead made my resume the centerpiece of the interview (you never know whether they are going to ask you more about what's on your resume or whether they just want to interview you. That's a crap-shoot). The first question was: what were my "processes", a vague question for a newbie, but for an experienced writer, they expect you to be able to wax lyrical on what you do when you get to the job, the first day, that is, how do you orient yourself? Do you know what to do? Can you work independently? There was also a question about my experience of Scrum, to describe Scrum, its process. The lead seemed surprised with my information, like he didn't know what Scrum was himself.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
While not exactly unexpected, the manager asked me: "What is your idea of ideal documentation? What does that look like to you?". The purpose of the question was clearly: "Do you know your craft?". The developer explained a new NAS feature of their operating system, called Deduplication, and told me beforehand that after he had explained it, he wanted me to explain it back to him. (which was like asking me to play close attention and so I did pay close attention and was able to explain it back almost completely correctly. It's very easy to mis-state things using a similar but inaccurate word). He also asked me what I would do, documentation-wise if, at the last minute of the publishing cycle, they decided to include a new change to a feature, but there wasn't time to include it, because the manual was in the process of being published. I said I would include the new feature in release notes at the next available opportunity. He seemed satisfied with that answer. He wanted to know also what coding experience I had. I showed him some PHP scripts I had written. He seemed satisfied with that, and didn't ask further questions on programming. No whiteboarding. (It wasn't a programming gig as such).