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As you can tell, the "it all depends" mantra applies here. My title is
Senior Technical Writer, and haven't seen a formal job description in the
three months I've been here. I do all four of those things, plus some
business and systems analysis, QA and testing, training, information and
user interface design, marketing support, and user support. All of these
functions could be and frequently are separate jobs with unique job
descriptions. I got lucky--I don't have to pick one and ignore the rest!
In my experience, the size and maturity of the company, industry, good old
corporate culture, and the interest and talent of the associates make a huge
difference in planning the job description, and letting it evolve. Bill's
given you a good start, but it's a very basic start, you could go in a
hundred different directions from here. Good luck!
Connie Giordano
-----Original Message-----
From: William Swallow [mailto:william -dot- swallow -at- aptissoftware -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2000 11:33 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: tech communications job descriptions
----- Bruce Hensley wrote: -----
Can anyone point me (preferably on the web) to standard job descriptions
for:
tech editor
tech writer
desktop publisher
graphic illustrator
technical illustrator
. and related technical communication jobs?
----- end original message -----
Well, I really don't think there is such a thing as all these types of
professions differ from environment to environment. If you want a
"universal" description, try the following:
technical editor - This person is responsible for reviewing and critiquing
technical communication.
technical writer - This person is responsible for creating technical
communication.
desktop publisher - This person is responsible for publishing technical
communication.
technical illustrator - This person is responsible for illustrating
technical communication.