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Looks like this was your day to be annoyed. I will risk annoying you further by sticking up for reporters. I use the skills I learned in the newsroom every day, especially in tech writing.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of William Sherman
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 11:52 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Tips on how to talk to SMEs
I'm another who doesn't like this use of SME all the time and "tips on how
to talk to SMEs" that pop up on various forums and websites.
First, I go back long enough that the tech writer WAS the expert. The TW
picked up the drawings, read the schematics, researched the product, read
the code, and so on and learned it on his own. He would consult the
engineer or the programmer on some items, but often few, and for several
reasons.
First, it is your job to learn the item you are writing about. Are you a
reporter or a technical writer? That word "technical" in the title isn't
there for looks.
Second, the engineer or programmer may not be on that program anymore, hence
no dollars in his budget to spend time with you. Even if he does fudge the
timecard, does he still remember the project?
Third, the engineer or programmer is often one small cog in the machine.
Now there are projects where one engineer handles the entire project or one
programmer codes the entire application, but that is often for something
small. So his view frequently is a lot narrower than you think. In some
places, I have seen "system engineers" who are really "subsystem engineers"
because their expertise was only one subsystem of the entire project.
Frequently, they are one subsystem of the subsystem.
Fourth, if the product is actually in production, or has already been sold
in an earlier version, the technician is frequently more of an expert on it
than the engineer. He has to make it run, fix it when it is broken, and send
his changes so an engineer can get credit when he "redesigns" the faulty
parts (that he previously designed but glosses over that fact) to make Rev.
2.0.
Fifth, I am annoyed at my profession being turned into a "reporter". Think
about a reporter. He knows nothing about a subject, and basically takes what
someone else knows and pretends to somehow understand it well enough to pass
off to others. I'm not here to interview anyone, I am here to learn this
product inside out and create a document that shows real knowledge of the
product and not just regurgitated mumbo jumbo that many of today's writers
have no way to validate.
I also find it annoying that the technical writing profession is being
dumbed down to being "reporters" who "interview" the experts to produce a
document. Once the reason a technical writer was in demand was he had
technical knowledge needed to produce the documentation. Usually it was from
coming through the ranks, having been in the military and taking the
military training schools, and then supplementing it with tech schools or
simply hard knocks on the assembly lines and production facilities.
That is why the idea of a technical writing degree baffles the heck out of
me. What are they teaching you? How to assemble/disassemble an F-15 or an
F-16? How to build a UHF radio? How to write and read Pascal, Fortran, C, or
PERL? How to troubleshoot a Caterpillar diesel? How to operate, maintain,
troubleshoot, and repair a Motorola two-way radio? How to build a Mark 48
torpedo? How to assemble and operate a Mercury inboard engine?
No, the idea is to teach you to interview someone who does know that stuff.
Why would I pay two people when I can simply hire the one who know it? No
wonder most companies don't want to hire technical writers.
Basically, the industry is turning technical writers into glorified
secretaries and the pay is reflecting it. I can't count the number of jobs
I've seen for technical writers that fall into the $40,000 range and lower,
when real TECHNICAL writers should and can command $80,000 or more.
Bringing brownies to the engineers just proves how much lower you are on the
ladder than they are.
Even a good office assistant will get miffed if the boss expects her to get
the coffee for him.
Rant OFF.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Cardimon" <craig -dot- cardimon -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 8:19 AM
Subject: Tips on how to talk to SMEs
> These suggestions might help:
>
>http://morespecifically.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/play-nice-with-an-sme/
>
> --
> Craig Cardimon
> "The Duct Tape Writer"
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