TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> Now, if someone lists HTML amongst their skills, but their Web site was
> all auto-magically created by MS FrontPage, should they receive strikes
> against them? Am I a big tool snob if I think they should author these
> pages by hand (particularly as most portfolio/resume sites are pretty
> straight forward)? Just a thought. I'm far more ambivalent about this
> issue, probably because it hasn't occurred very often. Thanks. DB.
I'm a huge tool snob when it comes to HTML, but I'd have to say that I
wouldn't necessarily discriminate against someone who lists HTML as a skill,
but uses FrontPage or some other similar editing tool. I would still check
their source code, and see if I could tell whether they'd hand-edited it at
all after generating it: I'd look for redundant style tags, for instance.
However, if I interviewed that person, I'd seriously drill on HTML questions
to make sure they weren't totally reliant upon editing tools.
Truth is, most of the jobs I've seen out there that want a webby TW, require
that the TW use their house HTML editing tool, whichever one they use. I've
been involved in the interview process at my last agency, interviewing
candidates the agency was considering hiring for their tech writing
abilities. I go over their resumes, and if they list HTML or any editing
tool as one of their skills, I test them on HTML tags and structure, not how
to use the tool. I keep in mind that most clients will only want the person
to use an editing tool, but also that it's necessary to know HTML to fix any
problems generated by your tool.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Attention ForeHelp and Doc-to-Help Users! Upgrade your existing product to
RoboHelp for only $299, through January 31st. RoboHelp can import your
existing Help projects! Learn how else RoboHelp can benefit you. www.ehelp.com/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
