Re: A technique to get on development's good side

[John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> Short of certification, which I support in principle, but doubt in
> practice, there's always the possibility to ask questions about
> basic TW tasks and domain-specific about the technology to be
> documented.

if I'm hiring a technical writer, I don't want basic. I want "take a
function by the horns and document the crap out of it" type of
writer.

If you ask for basic, you'll get basic. Taking a blank screen and an
application with nothing written about it is not basic. Interviewing
a SME about an obscure feature is usualy not basic.

That's where they fall on their feet.

"Ms. Prospective Writer...can you rewrite this paragraph?" - That's
NOT what I want.

How about "Ms. Prospective Writer...meet Crusty Norm. He hates
writers...he thinks they are a waste of time. Ask him about the
module he wrote last night at 2am for a 9am release and hand in a 3/4
page document on how it interfaces with the X, Y, and Z database
tables." That's who I want and who I know will have a better chance
of surviving.

John Posada
Senior Technical Writer

?Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone 
amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built 
the Titanic.? - Dave Barry

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