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It is *dishonest* for one to say "I know how to use <<name the program>>
when this person has never even used it. But, that aside, here's another,
much more common scenario that taints the reputation of our profession:
the person who honestly *thinks* they know how to use a DTP or
documentation application when they, in fact, do not know.
I am sure many of you have been handed electronic documents in Word,
FrameMaker, Interleaf, Ventura Publisher, PageMaker, or Quark Express that
were created by someone who had only the faintest clue how to use the program.
Oh, it's in <<name the program>>, but you'd almost rather have a
straight ASCII file given the mess you've inherited.
You know what I'm talking about...spaces instead of tabs...multiple tabs
instead of a properly placed, single tab...no use of styles...none, or a
poorly designed, hierarchy in structure...seven different typefaces...
and so on.
You can imagine it in the interview: "Oh yes, I've *used* <<name the
program>>." The question should be more like, "Can you *prove* to me that
you *know* how to *properly* use <<name the program>>?"
And then there's those who attempt the high jump over the Grand Canyon...
If you've used PageMaker on the Mac all your life, with an occasional foray
into Word, trying to jump to FrameMaker or Interleaf on a UNIX (or is that
"Unix" ;-) ) box is a huge leap. You had better know that before you
tell some client that can do it.
Please, don't drag down our profession over greed, desperation, or ego.
-Mike
BTW, people fucking jobs up because they can't say "no" is one of the reasons
employers and agencies list specific applications in their job postings.
They're tired of people deceiving them.
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Michael Andrew Uhl Internet: uhl -at- vislab -dot- epa -dot- gov
Lead Technical Writer (NESC) Phone: (919) 541-4283
Lockheed Martin Fax: (919) 541-0056
Primary Support Contractor for the US EPA ftp site: ftp.nesc.epa.gov
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Scientific Visualization Center, Research Triangle Park, NC
National Environmental Supercomputing Center (NESC), Bay City, MI
US EPA, Environmental Research Center, Research Triangle Park, NC
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