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RE: Asking for opinions about this job

Subject: RE: Asking for opinions about this job
From: "Melissa Nelson" <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:03:41 -0500

First of all I have not had a chance to read the other replies to this, so if I am being redundant I am sorry.

I was in a very similar situation for awhile at my first tech writer job. When they would not hire another tech writer, I got creative and asked around for admin assistants and receptionists who could pick up support tasks for me, such as checking for typo's, making sure the document was readable etc. That took some load off of me, until they ponied up the money for another tech writer.

I do not think you sound too sensitive...just overworked and tired...sorry you are going through this! However, if you can ask around you might someone who is willing to help. Also, check the local colleges, you may be able to get an intern...I had one for awhile and it was a huge help!

Melissa



From: Me Too To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Subject: Asking for opinions about this job Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 10:55:17 -0800 (PST)

I'd like to ask what other people think about my situation. Lately I have been having misgivings about my job and my position in this company, and I'd like to know the thoughts of others who may have more experience. Do I have a legitimate reason to feel badly about my current situation, or am I just being too sensitive?

I'm the only tech writer in a software development company that has almost 60 people in the engineering group. That includes software developers, QA techs, customer engineering techs, DBAs, and business analysts, and doesn't include the execs. When I started here about 3 years ago, there were fewer than 20 people total, counting me. Since then they've been constantly hiring in all other fields and still are.

When I started I understood I would be the only tech writer in the bunch. I also understood they planned to more than triple in size over the next few years. I assumed their expansion plans included the documentation section. I thought that was a reasonable assumption. When I was almost two years into the job I found they have absolutely no plans to ever hire any other tech writers. So, no matter how long I remain here, I will always be the only documentation person. I have no backup of any kind and have to perform every function in the document production/management process myself.

My duties include preparing documentation that goes to the customers. That means user guides, design documents, requirement documents, system architecture diagrams, disaster recovery procedures, etc. There are three major product lines that I have to support, with tremendous differences between them that have to be reflected accurately in the documents. Each project involves at least half a dozen documents, the smallest of which averages more than 170 pages. My superiors have told me that every document I send out, including the first drafts, have to be as close to perfect as they can possibly be made.

I also have to: - Create and maintain templates that the business analysts can use to make other documents for the customers. - Write and maintain documents used in SAS 70 audits, Sarbanes-Oxley audits, and CISP audits. - Write and maintain internal procedures like network security measures, guides to supporting and securing the databases, user guides for the bug tracking system, etc. - Produce materials to introduce new hire programmers to our software, including function overviews, flow charts, diagrams that detail the build process, architecture and lifecycle documents, etc. - Produce and maintain API documents for our Java source code. - Reverse-engineer our source code and create UML diagrams. There are 21 source code libraries which, between them, contain almost 19,000 Java files. This part of the job is going pretty slow, especially as I'm working on a laptop that has 512MB of RAM, and the software I use wants a Gigabyte. I cannot get a replacement; all the new dual-processor systems the company is getting are earmarked for the consultants they're hiring for special projects.


I feel kind of overloaded and a bit ticked off about the lack of any kind of job mobility. I'd like some opinions - do this position or workload seem unreasonable to anyone else? I would appreciate advice on how to deal with the situation.

If it matters, I'm genuinely not looking for pity. I sincerely want to know if others feel my situation is out of the ordinary, or if this sort of thing is generally considered acceptable. The input would help me decide my course of action. Thanks.

PS: The job market for technical writing where I live *REALLY* sucks.


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