RE: Why are companies now requiring techical writer candidates to be SMEs?

["Bill Swallow" <wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com>]

::: Perhaps I am laboring under a misconception wrt what an SME 
::: is, but it is my
::: impression that an SME is someone who actually DOES what is 
::: being documented
::: (e.g., programmer <"software engineer">, aerospace 
::: engineer, microwave oven
::: designer, etc.).  

A SME is nothing more than its unabbreviated form: Subject Matter Expert.
Tech writers can be and *should* be a SME for whatever they are documenting.
You don't need to be a SME out of the gate, but that should be your goal.

Being a SME doesn't mean you can code whatever app you're documenting or
build whatever mechanism you're documenting, but you should be a SME on the
industry it's being used in and on how it works. Anything else is a bonus.

Bill Swallow
wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com



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