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Subject:Re: Titles for Technical Writers From:"Wing, Michael J" <mjwing -at- INGR -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 14 Jan 1997 10:47:58 -0600
IMO, titles seem to serve different purposes. Not all of them are
beneficial to the title holder. I've met many people who are averse to
plain old vanilla Technical Writer. Therefore, I have been introduced
to Technical Information Developers, Documentation Engineers, Verbal and
Written Communication Specialists, and so forth.
These titles may be aimed to gain a measure of status/respect within a
company or with clients; however, they may confuse a hiring manager who
wants a writer. Technical Writer is a fairly-well understood term in
the industry. A company needing to hire a writer may respond more
favorably to an applicant whose title says Technical Writer than to one
that says Information Engineer when shuffling through resumes. Some
janitors prefer to be called Sanitation Engineers. But my guess is that
the job they apply for and the title they fill out on the application
says janitor.
Therefore, if I'm printing up a business card, I may be inclined to use
something like Technical Documentation Specialist. If I'm creating a
resume, plain ol' generic Technical Writer (along with
Sr/Principal/Staff or whatever level is applicable) would probably serve
me better.
Mike
_____________________________________________
| Michael Wing
| Principal Technical Writer
| Infrastructure Technical Information Development
| http://www.ingr.com/iss/products/mapping/
| Intergraph Corporation
| Huntsville, Alabama
| (205) 730-7250
| mjwing -at- ingr -dot- com
>
>> I once met a "Technical Communication Specialist". One.
>
>This was my title until recently. Now I'm an Instructional
>Development Specialist. It's a much narrower title, I think, and
>maybe that's what you want. Depends on what you want to do next, I
>guess.
>
>Tracy
>
>
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