TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
In another galaxy far, far away, when most tech writers worked in places
like aerospace, apparently the engineers provided all or almost all of the
info and the writers edited it and made it look nice. (I'm not slamming any
one here, this is what I've been told by people who worked in the industry
for 30 or 40 years. YMMV)
These writers, in my personal opinion, don't do well in the move to hi-tech
(or anywhere, really). The job of tech writer, at least in most
environments, now requires that the writer chase people down and sit on them
to get info. Engineers are good at building things, not writing. The writer
climbs into the head of the user and makes the info appropriate for the
user. Writers use the product and work with it to learn it. Tech writers
become experts at the entire product and instruct the user on how to do what
they need to do with the product.
If the contractor you have doesn't do that and doesn't want to do that, then
you have the wrong writer. You have a layout person who should be earning
*far* less than he's getting.
(I've worked with these guys in the past and they're really frustrating.
They whine about how they can't *possibly* be expected to learn the product
and how *unreasonable* it is for them to have to chase people down to get
information. As I run past their cube, chasing someone to get info while I'm
learning the product.)
For job descriptions, go to Monster.com or dice.com and start looking for
tech writing jobs. The descriptions are there and clear and specific.
sharon
Sharon Burton
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+sharon=anthrobytes -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+sharon=anthrobytes -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]On
Behalf Of SB
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 7:32 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Writers job description/definition
I have been working in this company for the past three years. OK, it is true
that I have only recently started to receive a list of deltas between
versions and it is still not complete. So, I do have to do a comparison
which is very long and very tedious. So yes, this needs to be fixed.
My colleague (a freelancer) believes that he should get all the material
from the engineers. He works without a system (OK, lately there was a lot of
pressure), focusses on what he understands (the warnings for example, which
is obviously trivial compared to the rest) and edits the English but does
not bother trying to make any sense because "this is the job of the
engineers" and doing that would be doing "QA", which is not our job.
So, this colleague, who has many years of experience, focusses on editing
what he gets and making things pretty. Of course, since he is very focussed
on detail, it takes him a long time. However, if I tell him that he has to
think in terms of user and that the engineers are not supposed to understand
how to do that, he argues with me and tells me that it is not our job and
that his wife is not suppsed to know how to install this. The unfortunate
part is that he does not know either and he does not even try to understand.
[snip]
Am I expecting too much from him? Am I defining the job the wrong way? I
mean, I remember in my previous company that my boss was also trying to make
sense of things and work with a system (hardware or software), even if we
had to release things very fast.
OK, so now I have to come to my boss and introduce a job descriptoin of what
technical writers are expected to do.
Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
