What questions do you ask when interviewing a new prepress operator?

[abc]

Asking for a friend, what questions do you ask a prospective prepress recruit to find out if they know their stuff?

[born2print]

I would start with their resumé I suppose. If they worked at legitimate places for reasonable amounts of time - that would be a good sign.
Then ask if they have watched any or all of Andrew's Pitstop web shows!

[DCurry]

I would ask them what frustrates them most about the job in general, and what their favorite tools/software is and why.

Aside from that, I used to have a "file from hell" and would ask them to preflight it. I wasn't so concerned that they caught every little thing, but it gave me a good idea of how they go about looking for issues and resolving them.

[zox]

I would ask them what frustrates them most about the job in general, and what their favorite tools/software is and why.

Aside from that, I used to have a "file from hell" and would ask them to preflight it. I wasn't so concerned that they caught every little thing, but it gave me a good idea of how they go about looking for issues and resolving them.

Ditto!

Other than regular CV and questions, this was my regular go to thing while I was Managing Prepress and hiring new operators.
Same idea, as long as they caught most of the issues, it was fine, but I asked to observe while they preflight, that really gave me idea about their skills. I kept in mind that some people are more nervous and couple of times I was being told that they are not comfortable me watching, which I respected.

[David]

I used to give them a test file to preflight, and watch them from a distance (acting like I was working on another computer).
I would watch how they use the keyboard, do they use quick keys, use scripts or not.
Do they know what a tab delimited file is?
Ever had to open a pdf in Illustrator?
Pitstop user or not

...Just a few off the top of my head


Had one guy interview years ago, ended up hiring him, he would literally pound the keyboard with his fingers.
He was great except for that one thing. 

Drove me bonkers, I couldn't watch him for very long.

[DCurry]

but I asked to observe while they preflight, that really gave me idea about their skills. I kept in mind that some people are more nervous and couple of times I was being told that they are not comfortable me watching, which I respected.

I had one tell me it made him nervous so I backed off. Ten minutes later he admitted he couldn't handle it. Guy had over 2 decades of experience, so he said.

I don't mind watching from afar, but telling me I can't observe at all is a red flag. If you know your stuff it shouldn't matter if someone watches, especially from a respectful distance. I was being interviewed for a position once and was tested. The interviewer stopped me halfway through and said he could tell I knew what I was doing so no need to finish the test.

These days, one could watch from another Mac using Screen Sharing!

[David]

I had to get used to being watched, I had to train people on the software.

At one time, I was training the people that would be doing the actual operator training.


...and using a remote Mac freaks people out, I laughed my ass off on more than one occasion.

 

[Tracy]

ability to fix bad files is a must, using pitstop, or a person that is willing to learn.
typesetting, fixing illustrator files, basic photoshop
and anything that the company specializes in.
the right person can learn anything (like us) hee hee

I like the idea of a test!

from my experience we have to interview the companies too!

[Possum]

I've had to have people watch me all day at times. Sometimes high school students would "shadow" us at the newspaper. I really hated it. Talking all day long really took a toll. I was hoarse at the end of the day.

[pspdfppdfxhd]

Uh, what is your drug of choice? Have you ever done time?

[madbugger]

Aside from that, I used to have a "file from hell" and would ask them to preflight it.

There wouldn't by chance be a copy of that file just laying around somewhere that you wouldn't mind sharing, is there?

[Slappy]

Only 1:

"Why?"

[Joe]

So when I decided to retire they only had one person apply. The only thing they needed to know: Are you breathing?

[Possum]

They probably snatched him and kept him prisoner in your old darkroom or some such, knowing he'd be their only possible victim.

[pspdfppdfxhd]

So when I decided to retire they only had one person apply. The only thing they needed to know: Are you breathing?

I kinda find that hard to believe with all the prepress folks not working. If i was to retire, i am sure there would be a flood of applications.