TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Re: English Majors and Ex-Military (was Seeking Advice on English MA)
Subject:Re: English Majors and Ex-Military (was Seeking Advice on English MA) From:surfer924 -at- earthlink -dot- net To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 19 Apr 2001 7:13:23
Being both retired military (20 years in Army Intelligence) and having a Bachelor's Degree in Communications ("What?" "English." "Oh, an English major.") I was up against a double-edged sword in the hiring process. Unfortunately few people of management age have served in the armed forces and grew up watching M*A*S*H* instead. I was blessed after several unsuccessful interviews to make it past the myopic HR department and interview with a hiring manager who was an ex-Air Force officer and who recognized that the skill set possessed by a retired senior NCO would be a major asset when it came to the job of managing documentation from specs to published manuals for three product lines.
>>Most of the ex-military TWs I've run across don't fit this description at all--they've been inflexible, patronizing, prone to quantity rather than quality, overly fond of passive voice and bureaucatese, and unwilling to learn and use new technology. <<
Most of the managers I've run across who have no military experience don't know how to lead, are more concerned with tool knowledge and degrees or certificates than writing ability and technical competence, and would rather embrace the latest management fad than try something that has been proven and works.
In my current position, the only ones who seem to make it to meetings on time and consistently meet deadlines are the ones who are ex-military.
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available 4/30/01 at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp, producers of PDF 2001 Conference East,
June 4-6, Baltimore, MD. Now covering Acrobat 5. Early registration deadline
April 27. http://www.pdfconference.com.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
