Re: What's a senior writer (LONG)

Subject: Re: What's a senior writer (LONG)
From: Nancy Hayes <nancyh -at- PMAFIRE -dot- INEL -dot- GOV>
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 14:56:01 GMT

RE: Request for the differences between a tech writer and senior writer

Okay, part of this is guess (from observation). We do have different
levels of tech writer, but the human resource descriptions are about as
useful as white-out with a computer. The job titles also change. (We've
got tech writers, administrative specialists, and DOE alone knows what else.)

Here's the rough breakdown. Most positions either require a 4-year
degree or a certain amount of experience, either writing or technical.
The company used to keep a mix of technical and "writing" people, but I
don't think they're doing that any more. I'm skipping the entry level.
The job responsibilities are similar to the Tech Writer II, but the Tech
Writer I is usually in the position of an apprentice (at least for the
first little while). The entry level position is either used as a means
to get someone in to the job, or as a "testing" period to see if they can
actually do the work.

Tech Writer II:
--------------

Most of the writers either fall here or in Tech Writer III. These people
know the facility well enough that they can be turned loose to work on
their own. Some of their skills include:

1. research the process (drawings, CFRs, DOE Orders, old procedures,
people, etc.)
2. analyze the process
3. write the procedure to the correct format
4. generally act as liason between the engineers, operators, and other
subject matter contacts.

Tech Writer III
---------------

In some ways this is a "senior" position. The responsibilities are the
same, but the difference comes in the level of detail. The TWII might
only be responsible for one particular area (for example, chemical makeup
procedures in a particular facility). The TWIII has responsibility for
the entire facility (makeups, remote operations, normal ops, emergency
response).

Senior Tech Writer I
--------------------

Same as above, but these people sometimes act as group leaders. They
could have responsibility for scheduling a process. In some cases, this
is also the level where the tech editors are brought in. I'm at this
level and I work as a tech editor, trainer (on technical writing), and
sometime-writer. I deal with several different facilities and several
different types of documents.


I think there
may be one more level, but the responsibilities are similar to STWI--just
more of them. The STWII are the group leaders, the "supervisors". They
manage schedules and work flow for several facilities.

Hope this helped some. Basically, it's all the same job--it's just a
matter of degree. Do you deal with one particular type of procedure in
one facility, or do you deal with an entire facility, or do you deal with
several facilities. Do you only write procedures, or do you write
procedures, requirement manuals, system descriptions, etc?

Nancy Hayes (nancyh -at- pmafire -dot- inel -dot- gov)

BTW, this is my opinion and does not represent Lockheed-Martin Idaho's
opinion.


Previous by Author: Re: Writer/? Relations
Next by Author: Re: Readability statistics - what limitations?
Previous by Thread: Re: Writer/? Relations
Next by Thread: looking for a winword mailing-list; new to the group


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads