Re: A Different Perspective (was Senior Technical Writer)

[pkingston -at- nomadsoft -dot- co -dot- uk]

I think that this answer was more what I was after--I just wondered if
there was something cultural here, which I think you have confirmed.

And it's not just North America--when I worked in Israel for a US company,
a brief look through the Intranet revealed 46 job titles with the word
'Manager' in them. This was in a company employing 115 people....


Kind regards,

Peter Kingston

Technical Author
Nomad Software
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7292 2413
e-mail:  pkingston -at- nomadsoft -dot- co -dot- uk

> Peter,
> I'd like to offer a different perspective: namely,
> cultural. When I lived and worked in Germany
> (91-96, Wuerzburg Tour), German business people
> use to joke about how easily Americans don
> the title "Manager." Americans know it's not
> uncommon to find unseasoned financial consultants
> named "Vice President."
> Unlike European cultures, we do not have a centuries-
> long tradition of titles, hence we affix them rather
> casually. European titles stem from
> lucky genealogies or long-established traditions
> like the German "Meister" worker, which to this
> day requires years of training (my wife's father
> was a "Meister" Bookbinder... six years to
> learn how to mend books{!}).
> Add this casual attitude the rather amorphous
> skill of technical writing, with its broad range
> of specialties and lack of formal training, and
> voila! Instant status. Most Americans are accustomed
> to this casual inflation of one's importance because
> it is so widespread... whereas it can easily offend
> the European sense of propriety.
> PS: I can't speak for the Canadians...
> Best,
> Bobby



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