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.
Subject:Training New Employees From:Karen Gwynn/Datatel <Karen_Gwynn -at- DATATEL -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 4 Jan 1996 10:41:11 EDT
I am interested in hearing about anyone's experience with training new
technical writers in an environment similar to ours.
We are a mid-sized (approx. 250 people) software development company with a
small but expanding documentation group. Because we will be hiring 6 new
writers this year (our biggest increase ever!), we are faced with the sudden
dilemma of how to train these individuals.
Our hiring requirements are for experienced writers but we have a lot of
company-specific items that a new employee must learn before they can become
productive.
If you have been in a similar situation, have you
***provided formalized, structured training?
***provided self-paced training materials?
***used the old fashioned, seat-of-the-pants, on-the-job-training methods?
What has worked and what hasn't?
--
Karen Gwynn, Senior Documentation Specialist
Datatel, Inc.
703/968-4556
e-mail kwg -at- datatel -dot- com