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Subject:Re: HELP! Software Jockeys vs. Real Tech Writers From:Stephen Forrest <techwriter -at- IBM -dot- NET> Date:Mon, 29 Sep 1997 13:29:11 GMT
>At 09:39 PM 9/27/97 -0600, rossa wrote:
>
>HELP!!! Forgive me if this has recently been discussed but I haven't been
>on the list for a long time. I live and work in Dallas and my company
>hires people who know technology and don't have any skill at all when it
>comes to writing. I work in IS for a medium size company. Our company's
>IS department is expanding and it is just beginning to hire technical
>writers. I've been with this company 4 months and am new to Dallas. I am
>the second technical writer the company has ever hired and the first one
>got there 2 months before I did. A third was hired shortly after I was
>and she was just fired two days ago. We have problems. It seems that the
>managers in IS don't understand what technical writers do but they seem
>to think they need them. They think technical writing is word processing
>and consequently end up hiring people who know a lot about software
>packages and cool PC tools and toys but don't know how to do research and
>writing. I seem to be the only one who is serious about producing good
>documentation. Does anyone out there have suggestions for educating these
>people? We don't have a chance of establishing a professional department
>if the IS managers don't know how to hire professional writers.
My advice is to give notice that you're leaving. If they ask why, say
something like, "Because this company is not committed to producing quality
documentation, and that's the only kind I'm interested in producing. Working
here will not advance my career. You don't need me to produce the kind of
documentation you're asking for. Any schmuck can do that." You might want to
be a little more tactful than that. If they're not interested in hearing it,
you're out of luck. But if they want to know more, you have their attention.
For what it's worth, you're not alone. Good luck.
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