[Foundation-l] Wikimedia "Storyteller" job opening

[phoebe ayers]

On Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 4:22 PM, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> On 3/1/2011 2:46 PM, Birgitte SB wrote:
>>> Ambiguity is only a bad thing when someone knows exactly what they want and
>>> they
>>> choose to be unclear about it rather than when is someone aware of a general
>>> need while being somewhat open-minded about how might be filled.  This
>>> situation
>>> strikes me as the latter, advertising for a writer to develop public
>>> relations
>>> material for fundraising would probably bring in a much more narrow set of
>>> applicants and would also make it harder to get the new employee to take the
>>> other duties that are desired seriously.  I don't know how much hiring you
>>> have
>>> done, but it is not uncommon for people to get their minds set as to what
>>> their
>>> "job" is early on and getting them to put a lot of effort into things they
>>> believe are "not what they were hired to do" is difficult.  So if you want a
>>> new
>>> employee to have a wide range of duties, you should advertise describing a
>>> more
>>> open-ended position. People that have narrow mindsets are less likely to
>>> apply
>>> for vague jobs, and everyone wins because good hiring is all about fit.
>>> Narrow
>>> and well-settled duties = detailed description of opening.  Wide-ranging and
>>> uncertain duties = ambiguous description of opening.
>
> on 3/1/11 7:08 PM, Michael Snow at wikipedia at frontier.com wrote:
>
>> This explanation is quite insightful, I think. The challenge described
>> is a significant piece of why the Wikimedia Foundation has developed a
>> somewhat non-standard approach to its organizational structure and
>> allocation of staff responsibilities. Practically every conversation
>> I've had with Sue about this, while hiring for a number of different
>> positions, has touched on how unusual a combination of background,
>> skills, and personality is needed for someone to be the right fit for
>> us, and how adaptable both we and the candidates have to be during the
>> hiring process in how we think about the position.
>>
> Michael, do you, and the rest of the Foundation staff, have any idea how
> detached - yes, estranged - you are becoming from the Community that is at
> the heart of this Project?
>
> Marc Riddell


Michael isn't staff; he's the former chair of the Wikimedia Foundation
Board, and is speaking as a (very) long-time and respected community
member.

-- phoebe

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