Calli, is there any way you can vague up some of your manual writing enough to make a sort of generic portfolio?

Not really. I have no hard copy, nor electronic files. None of that was allowed to go out the door. They were really serious about the confidentiality thing.

My thesis? I'm looking at cookbooks and housekeeping manuals from the 16th and 17th century to see if and how they had an impact on women's literacy. As women became more literate, they published more of these books so I want to see the impact on literacy and, ultimately, on culture.

Wow, that looks really nifty!

Hey, maybe I should hook the interviewer folks up with my masters thesis. Then again, I'm not sure if female power figures in the plays of W.B. Yeats is quite what they're looking for.

I've lost about 10-15lbs (I don't own a scale) since I stopped snacking on sweets at work. I'm hoping running (which we'll start again this week, now that our lungs are recovered from June's colds and the heat's less oppressive) will take care of the rest of what I want to lose (which is at least another 20lbs) without me having to become a slave to Fitday again.

Congratulations! That's great news. I could stand to lose another 20 pounds myself, but with all the other stuff going on in my life right now, I'm putting weight worries on the back burner.

Super sekrit HK link for Trudy: [link]

Calli, I'd explain that your professional writing is covered by confidentiality agreements, offer to take any sort of writing test they'd like to administer, and have some of your academic writing on-hand. I'm in the same situation -- I've been a tech writer for eight years, and I don't have anything I can take with me.

My thesis? I'm looking at cookbooks and housekeeping manuals from the 16th and 17th century to see if and how they had an impact on women's literacy. As women became more literate, they published more of these books so I want to see the impact on literacy and, ultimately, on culture. Though the time period might change, given the availability of early modern cookbooks.

Oooooo.

My paper on Shakespeare is looking at the plays that came immediately after the last minute save from an attempt on the King's life (called the Gunpowder Plot) including Macbeth and seeing the effect that the Plot had on the language of Jacobean theater with an eye toward what makes Macbeth different... it's a combo of history and lit analysis, with work on 2 plays that are rarely read in addition to Macbeth.

OOOOO! May I read? Would you be okay with that?

I love the Four Four! YAY PR. And YAY that next week is (SUPPOSUBLY) finally the week of the BIG SHOCKER.

And honestly, Calli? They'll be used to that, and will look more favorably on an up-front explanation than they would at you showing them work that really shouldn't be shared. It's a sucky position to be in (I'm another with the same issues), but it won't be a deal-breaker.

I'd explain that your professional writing is covered by confidentiality agreements, offer to take any sort of writing test they'd like to administer, and have some of your academic writing on-hand.

Yep, that's pretty much the route I'm taking. I have plenty of composition class stuff, and I might be able to dig up an ancient short story. That's about it.

I'm in the same situation -- I've been a tech writer for eight years, and I don't have anything I can take with me.

Yeah, I get the impression that this isn't uncommon. [ETA: and behold the cross-post with Brenda to prove it.] And I'm hoping that, if they've been interviewing other folks in the biz, they'll see "Sorry. Confidential, dude," as a sign of ethics rather than me just being recalcitrant.

I had a new employer ask if I had any documents from my old job they could use after they hired me. I think I blurted out the whole confidentiality agreement thing before it occurred to me there might be a smoother way to put it.

I ended up rewriting something for the purpose, which was annoying, but less illegal.

Gloomcookie! The seats have ears! And bows! And look at this:

The one-off special will be displayed at the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district from July 25th - 31st 2006. From the 25th to the 29th at 10:20 AM local time, interested buyers can register for the opportunity to buy the car. At 10:30 on the 29th, one name will be pulled and that person will be allowed to buy the car for ¥2,100,000 -- 200,000 of which goes to Japan's UNICEF. (For our American readers, that purchase price translates to a little over $18,200 USD.)

Dude, we could SO get that car! How much could it cost, really, to ship it from Japan and then switch off ever six months? TOTALLY worth it!

Bwahahahahahahaha! I'd love to see you driving around NY in the pink HK mobile. So awesome!