# Preparing for a job interview - do any Dopers deal with FOI? (Freedom of Information)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preparing-for-a-job-interview-do-any-dopers-deal-with-foi-freedom-of-information/276765>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 26, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preparing-for-a-job-interview-do-any-dopers-deal-with-foi-freedom-of-information/276765 "2004-11-26T17:33:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preparing-for-a-job-interview-do-any-dopers-deal-with-foi-freedom-of-information/276765/21 "2004-11-30T03:21:18Z")

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> [@Kalhoun](#):
>
> The thing that amazed me the most was that the government is behind the times with regard to technology. Things are requested and delivered on PAPER instead of electronically.

**Kalhoun** , that’s one of the protections that the public has in access requests. It’s just too easy to tinker with electronic documents, without leaving a trace. If you get a photocopy of the original document, you can see the whiteout marks, or the blackouts; you can see hand-written notations. Photocopies of the original bring you as close as possible to the original.

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preparing-for-a-job-interview-do-any-dopers-deal-with-foi-freedom-of-information/276765/22 "2004-11-30T15:55:34Z")

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Point taken. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preparing-for-a-job-interview-do-any-dopers-deal-with-foi-freedom-of-information/276765/23 "2004-11-30T17:22:30Z")

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So much great info - thank you!

**Northern\_Piper** - I appreciate all of the time you’ve taken in replying, and the “attitude” aspect is something I hadn’t specifically considered. I will try to convey that attitude in my interview, and (hopefully) in my new job! 🙂 (My interview isn’t until this afternoon but I’m trying to think positive).

The point **Kalhoun** brought up is the part of this job I think I would not enjoy - lots of “severing” and photocopying etc … We’re a fairly small corporation in the grand scheme of things, so I would be dealing with the requests, contacting the requestors for clarification, finding the information, copying it, sending it out, filing copies of all of the correspondence …

I’ve reviewed the FOI website, the Privacy Commissioner’s info, and our corporate documents. There is much too much for me to learn on my own at this point, but I feel somewhat confident that I’ve got some familiarity with the concepts of FOI.

WISH ME LUCK!!! (thanks in advance).

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preparing-for-a-job-interview-do-any-dopers-deal-with-foi-freedom-of-information/276765/24 "2004-12-10T04:24:12Z")

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So, **Stainz** , how did it go?

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