Congratulations on the new job, Craig! Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions, especially when you're first starting at the job or on a project. Your job is going to be to pass on knowledge. You can't do that if you don't understand something yourself. Always keep your end user in mind and ask questions on that user's behalf. What will that person need to know or do? Will a particular feature be more cumbersome or troublesome to the end user than the engineers realize? If something doesn't seem right, ask about it. If you have to, start with, "Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I'm still new at this. Can you explain ____(fill in the blank)____?" Play the newbie card for a while so people will sympathize enough to work with you, but so they'll understand that you won't always be that annoying. :-)
While you're asking questions, take good notes in whatever way works for you--meticulous notes in a paper notebook, detailed and cross-referenced files on a laptop, voices and thoughts on a tape recorder, or chicken scratches on cocktail napkins. Then the next time you come back to someone who you talked to previously, use your notes and any additional research you did to summarize what you understand based on your previous discussion, and ask for more from there. That will impress the person because you actually listened and aren't wasting his time, and it usually makes him more willing to talk to you again. That recommendation actually came from a fantastic leadership seminar that I attended earlier this year. (Search for John C. Maxwell or Mark Sanborn for a couple of the presenters.) >From the education you listed, it sounds like you know the value of always learning. Experiment with new things whenever you get the chance. Read a lot. Shut up and listen a lot. Consider each new thing a challenge to master instead of a daunting task to perform. If you do this, you'll rarely be bored, and you should always have something of value to bring to the table with you. And last but not least, always give everything your best effort, even if you'd rather be working on something else. Do everything that's put before you to the best of your abilities. Remember that if you have to convince yourself that something is "good enough," there's a pretty good chance that it's not. I don't remember it offhand, but there's a Bible verse that tells you something to the effect of doing everything you do as if you were doing it for God Himself. If we all kept that in mind at all times, think of how much different the world would be. I don't know if that helps much or if it's stuff that's obvious to everyone but me. Some of it I had to learn the hard way. (I'm still working on the shutting up and listening part!) I hope you enjoy your new job! Donna - CONFIDENTIAL- This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, and may also be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not review, use, copy, or distribute this message. If you receive this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email and then delete this email. _______________________________________________ Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com -- your 3D documentation community. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals To post a message to the list, send an email to [email protected] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com or, via email, send a blank message [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit the TCP site at http://www.techcommpros.com To find out more about the list, including archives and your account options, visit http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com If you need assistance with the list, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
