RE: How many technical writers wear different hats?

["James Barrow" <vrfour -at- verizon -dot- net>]

>Craig Cardimon wrote:
>
>When I was being interviewed, I was asked about my background in web
>database development. I have several years of experience in this. 
>
>The question was, would I mind lending a hand in this area should they need
>it. My answer was, of course not. I'd be glad to help. Which is true. 
>
>This got me thinking. How many technical writers out there find themselves
>doing other things, say on a temporary basis? By other things, let's say,
>"other duties as assigned."

If you saw my resume you'd think I was schizophrenic.  For every employer
that I've worked for, I've had dual titles:  Tech Writer/Functional Analyst,
Tech Writer/Project Manager, etc.

One of my funnier anecdotes is when I worked for major Fortune 100 company.
On day 1, I was a tech writer.  At 9:01am on my second day, my manager came
to me and asked:  "I know we hired you as a tech writer, but we really need
a functional analyst for the next three months.  Could you do that?"

So, I was Functional Analyst for 90 days...then I was a tech writer...then I
was a trainer...

On another job where I was hired as a tech writer for SOX, my manager came
to me and said that the current Sox project manager had just quit and that
he wanted me to take over that role. (That one was rough.  Ensuring SOX
compliance and writing policies and procedures for the same quarter took up
all of my 12-hour days:^)

- Jim

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