RE: Technical Writing

["Anameier, Christine A - Eagan, MN" <CANAMEIE -at- email -dot- usps -dot- gov>]

Responding to my "programming courses wouldn't help me in my current
work" post, Martha Jane {Kolman | Davidson} wrote:
> I document software development tools for programming languages that
> didn't exist when I was in college. That doesn't mean that the FORTRAN
> class I took in my freshman year was useless; it taught me what
programming
> is about and how programming languages can be used.

That makes sense to me, because you document software development tools.
I, on the other hand, write end-user software documentation:  the stuff
that tells users to click the Foo button and enter widget parameters
when prompted. FORTRAN coursework would be irrelevant to me. 

I was being a little glib in my post, but my point was that for some of
us, engineering or programming coursework is unnecessary. 

In a similar vein, John Posada wrote:
> There are engineers who worked on nuclear reactors even though they
didn't
> exist when they were going to college.

Sure, but I'll bet the principles of engineering that they learned
applied to their work on nuclear reactors.  If *I*, on the other hand,
had studied engineering or programming, that would not have helped me
write end-user docs.

<sigh> The "didn't exist when I was in college" bit is turning out to be
a red herring. Everybody, forget I said that part. The real point is
that studying programming does not help me explain to Joe Enduser how to
use a program. Doesn't hurt, sure, but there are better ways I could
spend my time. 

I could've developed the same analytical skills in programming classes
that I did in English classes, but at the time, I wasn't interested in
programming; for some reason, I was interested in literature and music
and stuff.

> In college, I was a biology major. I write nothing having to do with
> biology. However, learning lab technique has helped me to analyze
situations
> and ask intelligent questions. . . .

Neat. When I say that nobody asks about my undergraduate coursework, I'm
not saying that it was useless to me. Not by a long shot. My liberal
arts education taught me a lot about reading carefully, analyzing data,
and writing. It was a superb foundation. 

But at some point (in my experience) nobody cares what you studied in
school. They usually want you to have studied SOMETHING, but I think
students are misguided if they choose their majors mainly by
marketability. Maybe "no way" genuinely loves engineering and
philosophy, in which case I say "go for it," but it kinda sounded like
s/he was angling for a "practical" major. Since that person asked for
our recommendations, mine is this:

Study what you're really interested in, get lots of good writing
practice along the way, sharpen your analytical skills, and then show up
for job interviews with the bright-eyed enthusiasm of someone who hasn't
spent four years dutifully slogging through a "practical" course of
study. Convince an employer that your skills will benefit them, get the
first job, and then you're off and running. 

YMMV; this is just my own opinion. Worked for me. Happy Friday, all.

Christine


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