RE: a different resume red flag

["Stephen Arrants" <steve -at- microbrightfield -dot- com>]

 Dick Margulis writes:
> Stephen Arrants wrote:
>    Why do we stress tool usage and
> > tool knowledge as much more important than "domain" 
> knowledge and the 
> > ability to get information from reluctant sources?
> 
> Once more, NOBODY EVER SAID THAT! Not in techwr-l, anyway. 
> Not ever. Not one single time. I dare you to show me where I 
> or anyone else claimed that tool usage or tool knowledge was 
> even a little bit more important than getting the facts and 
> getting them right.

No, no one ever said it straight out. But I've see it implied a lot,
especially when talking about hiring decisions. Or when reading over job
listings for technical writers.  Most of the time, "Must know Word and
RoboHelp" is the first of the many requirements.

> It is easier to teach someone how to use Word or Frame or
> > whatever the way YOU want them to use it to produce documentation, 
> > than it is to teach them how to reconcile three or four 
> different sets 
> > of contradictory comments, how to actually write, how to deal with 
> > developers, marketing, et al.
> 
> [...]It's hard to teach 
> creative problem-solving to some people. And it's hard to 
> teach keyboard shortcuts to some people. 


Uh, Dick... A software program is just a series of steps and procedures
to follow. Anyone who can write can be taught how to "properly" use Word
or Frame or The Sims. It is harder to teach someone creative
problem-solving  than it is to teach them Word's keyboard shortcuts. To
say otherwise is...oh, I don't know....nonsense? 

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