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Subject:Re: What qualifies a Senior Technical Writer? From:Joanne Grey <j_grey -at- writeangles -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 14 Dec 2000 08:46:33 -0800
rhoggan -at- lewis -dot- com wrote:
> When people talk list Senior Technical Writer under there name on this
> list, does it mean they are the Head of documentation team/department, or
> does that designate a number of years in tech writing?
What is meant by "Senior Technical Writer" means different
things at different companies and sometimes even more
differences as a consultant. As a guideline - formed by my
own anecdotal observations only - "senior" usually means
having enough experience to work on multiple projects
simultaneously, take a project from start to finish with
little or no supervision, work alone or with a team, and
either work within described guidelines or be able to define
your own. If everyone comes to you for advice on the
project, tools, and guidance, you're probably well on your
way.
Often this is translated into some arbitrary number of
years' worth of experience, but I've know technical writers
who fit this description with only a few years experience,
and others with ten or fifteen years experience that I would
still consider junior writers.
> When jobs ask for three years experience, would 2.5
> years + an intense summer of schooling qualify for such work,
If you can do the work necessary, I think that the actual
number of years (excluding flagrant lies, of course) is just
the company guideline to use for hiring.
> Is it wrong to round-up the two years to three (making the
> assumption that the college work will be similar to actual working
> experience)?
You can always explain all that in the interview, if you are
not comfortable with rounding up. After all, that's what
interviews are for - for them to get to know the candidate
and for you to get to know them. Once you are face-to-face,
you can judge better how stringently they want you to meet
their requirements. Chances are that you'd be fine. Most
companies just want to make sure that you can (a) do the
work needed, and (b) fit in with the group.
Nothing changes more constantly than the past; for the past
that influences our lives does not consist of what happened,
but of what men believe happened. -Gerald W. Johnston
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