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

[jenny_berger -at- fairfieldresidential -dot- com]

Sorry, dude, Andrew's right. I've yet to meet an employer who valued 
ignorance among any member of any team, writer or not. Ignorance is 
typically defined as "the state of being uneducated or uninformed" 
(American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.). How can anyone produce a good 
document in an uninformed or uneducated state? Simple -- they can't. I 
know I can't produce good documentation if I'm ignorant in any way about 
what I'm documenting, and I know I'm a good writer. But being a good 
writer isn't worth a hill of beans in any market if I don't have a clue 
about the product, the technology or the industry I'm writing about. 

 If the argument for ignorance is user advocacy, I'd suggest that user 
advocacy can't occur unless the needs of the user and the capabilities of 
the product are aligned. The writer's part in that is to know the product, 
technology, etc. well enough to define the capabilities of the product and 
show in the doc how the user's needs are addressed (i.e., how the user's 
problems are solved). Conceptual info is key to making that clear to the 
user, and procedures support it. User advocacy doesn't occur when the 
writer's knowledge is on the same level or below that of the user. It 
occurs when the writer's knowledge exceeds that of the user and the writer 
remembers who he/she is talking to.

As for the ability/willingness to learn -- that's definitely an asset, but 
that goes without saying, and it applies to everybody. It's not something 
to sell a prospective employer on as something particularly special, in 
general.  Employers of my experience look at that as a "so what?" type of 
thing and still want to know if you know anything about their business. If 
you don't, you're seen as a potential time-waster because it'll take you 
longer to get up to speed and produce the good docs they're paying for. If 
you do, they'll see you as a potential team member who's very likely to 
make a meaningful contribution, quickly, saving them time, money, and 
frustration.

Jenny Berger
Technical Writer
Information Systems
Fairfield Residential





"Chuck Martin" <twriter -at- sonic -dot- net>
Sent by: bounce-techwr-l-115343 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
04/21/2003 08:00 PM
Please respond to "Chuck Martin"

 
        To:     "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
        cc: 
        Subject:        Re: Why are companies now requiring techical writer candidates to be SMEs?



> Ignorance is not an asset. Never has been, never will be.

Sure it is. Everyone is ignorant--about far, far more things than we can
possibly be knowledgable about.

Ignorance without the capability or willingness to learn is what's not an
asset.

> A true user's advocate knows the technology inside and out and can 
explain
> those details, with tremendous depth of insight, to users in a concise 
and
> effective manner.

Both of these are misconceptions. User advocacy requires the capability to
understand user goals--which usually have nothing to do with a particular
company's product. I could spend a bit of time explaining here, but 
instead
will refer you to Alan Cooper's book "The Inmates are Running the Asylum,"
where such concepts are explained clearly and in detail.


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