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.
Re: how bad is the job market? New job requirements (ACK!!)??
Subject:Re: how bad is the job market? New job requirements (ACK!!)?? From:Pro TechWriter <pro -dot- techwriter -at- gmail -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L Writing <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:02:46 -0600
The job market *IS* bad. Excerpt from a job description on Dice:
Coordinate all administrative items for the Project team. Planning and
coordinating calls and meetings. Perform scribe duties for all calls and
meetings, producing agendas and minutes. Create and maintain needed reports
and updates, including preparing presentations. Coordinate communications
items for project team - schedules, calendars, contact lists.
The job title is (you guessed it!) *Technical Writer*!
Here are the rest of the requirements, which include: project planning and
management, managing multiple doc tasks and keeping a master deliverables
schedule, editing, setting up document security, establishing style
guidelines and standards, and creating doc templates, and providing reports.
You must also have a BA, five years of experience, and be able to work
independently, serve on other teams, etc. etc.
All this, *and* you have to answer the phone, keep everyone's calendar and
schedule, set up meetings, type the agenda and send it out, and keep the
meeting minutes, update everyone's contact lists, and -probably- make travel
reservations and get office supplies--and make coffee! (I wonder if the
desk is in the lobby?)
I hope it pays well.
:-( Never thought I would see the day--again--where you had to do
secretarial work to be a tech writer. That is just sad. :-(
Are you looking for one documentation tool that does it all? Author,
build, test, and publish your Help files with just one easy-to-use tool.
Try the latest Doc-To-Help 2009 v3 risk-free for 30-days at: http://www.doctohelp.com/
Explore CAREER options and paths related to Technical Writing,
learn to create SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS documents, and
get tips on FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION best practices. Free at: http://www.ModernAnalyst.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-