Victims and slaves wanted!

Subject: Victims and slaves wanted!
From: Iain Harrison <iharrison -at- SCT -dot- CO -dot- UK>
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 14:29:18 GMT

geoff-h wrote:
>>
From a recent post to the list, in which Alias/Wavefront
was seeking technical writers: <<Looking for a comfortable
9-5 workday, light work load, no stress? Look elsewhere.
But if you want to create technical documentation you can
be proud of, read on.>>

Is it just me, or is this an invitation to trash the
message without reading further?
<<

That's just what I was thinking when I read it. Even in an environment
where there are busy spells with a lot of work to get out of the door,
and not enough time to do it, it is vital that there are sufficient
resources to do the job.

In a previous life (well, a previous job) I was working to impossible
timescales, with inadequate resources and many other difficulties and
obstacles. I decided that this wasn't good for me or for the quality
of the work I was doing. I left.

If you don't have the tools to do the job, you can't do the job
properly. The tools aren't hardware and software - more important are
factors like a reasonable working environment, a manageable workload
and no unnecessary stress.

To advertise a job by saying 'this will be bad for your health, will
ruin your family life, and put obstacles in the way of producing a
quality product' seems like a serious own-goal. Of course, it may just
be that the company was being honest!

Iain Harrison
iharrison -at- sct -dot- co -dot- uk
iain -at- hairydog -dot- clara -dot- net

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