Well, I guess I can kind of see both sides. I've been a tech writer at my company for a year and a half, and it is frustrating when others assume that if you can type and spell (or *not* spell..."hey, that's what spell-check is for, right?") then you're fully qualified to be a tech writer.
But it is hard to break out of the "admin" mold. I don't have a degree in English, but I have a BA in Psychology. I majored in Psych because I thought the classes were really quite interesting, not having a specific career goal in mind. After college, I started temping, and ended up in an admin/customer service role at a manufacturing company. Among other things, I wrote work instructions and the like for my department, learned PageMaker and became an expert at Word. Two acquisitions, two office moves and 2 years later, the tech writer position here opened up, and I applied. I think my former boss went to bat for me, as they moved the position out of the marketing department and into the Engineering Services department (where I was already), and here I am. I've since taken classes in Frame and a Tech Writing course through University of IL at Chicago, and I find I have an affinity for the job. Moral of my story, I guess, is that it's not a bad thing to think outside the box, hiring-wise, but yes, it is hard to effectively weed out the unqualified while finding the right person for the job. -Lise On 5/15/07, Rene Stephenson <rinnie1 at yahoo.com> wrote: > I have had secretaries apply for tech writer openings in my group. Internal > candidates always get phone screening, so I'd have to call them. I always > asked what they felt were their qualifications, and they all responded that > they had "good English" and were experts with MS Word. They wrote lots of > corresondence and updated their draft letters with the "edits" from their > bosses, so they "knew" how to handle document review. We had to start posting > BA or higher in English or directly relevant field as a minimal requirement > with no "equivalency" allowed. > > Rene > > > Keith Smyth <smythkl_1 at express56.com> wrote: > As in "So easy a Caveman could do it"? > > I am sure all of us have had the experience of someone totally clueless > thinking all we do is type. Had a gal at one of our square dances from > our church in 1983 tell me that while she is a store clerk, she is going to > become a tech writer, "because if you can do it, anyone can do it". > > And she went to an interview. Never heard from her again. > > > >You think that's insulting? When we had a req open for another tech > >writer in January, we had people from our shipping department and the > >warehouse coming to us and asking us if they could apply for the job. As > >if Tech Writing was so easy, someone with shipping or warehouse > >experience could do it. > > > > > >Thank you, > > > > -Gillian > > -- > Keith L. Smyth > President > Smyth Consulting > ------------------------------------------------------------- > Religion was in charge during the dark ages. > ------------------------------------------------------------- > Technical Documentation Consultant > > _______________________________________________ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as rinnie1 at yahoo.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/rinnie1%40yahoo.com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > > > > Rene L. Stephenson > eNovative Solutions, Inc. > Business Phone: 678-513-0051 > Email: rinnie1 at yahoo.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as rentagoodbook at gmail.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/rentagoodbook%40gmail.com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. >
