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In case you haven?t heard, that stands for Technical Recruiter Blues.
I?m in a real pickle, and I don?t know what to do. It seems technical
recruiting firms are more interested in slamming a technical writer into
any available slot than they are in making sure there?s a good fit
between contractor and prospective client.
No matter how many times I remind a technical recruiting firm what I?m
about, it?s as though the recruiters are trained to listen with their
earmuffs on; what I say goes in one ear and out the other. I?m
beginning to sound like a broken record, because every time I talk to a
recruiter who tells me about a job that doesn?t make good use of my
skillset, I have to tactfully remind the recruiter what I do for a
living.
Hey, I figure, after dealing with these firms for over a year, they
should be putting me in touch with clients who are looking for online
help experts, Web developers, and copywriters. It?s not like they don?t
remember me or have trouble putting what I do in context. While we?re
talking on the phone, they?re looking at a paper copy of my resume (or
the electronic equivalent) and can see I have an excellent track record
and tons of experience building online help systems for GUI
applications, developing Web sites with FrontPage, and writing sales
copy for companies that want to market their products and services.
Yet these same recruiters continue to call me about ?technical writing?
opportunities that require no writing skills, let alone analytic or
editing skills. All they seem to want these days is a fast typist who
can take someone else?s material and blindly enter it into a computer.
Now come on, folks. Either these recruiters are not listening, or
they?re suffering from short-term memory loss. They may not completely
understand what a technical writer does, but surely they know the
difference between someone who enters data and someone who writes
original copy. To drive this concept home with recruiters, I?ve even
tried to explain that it?s like asking Ernest Hemingway to type James
Baldwin?s manuscript.
It?s bad enough I have to put up with bodyshops. But when I try to get
a handle on the project scope by asking reasonable questions, like--what
platform does the software run on, what help authoring tool is the
client using, what type of application is it that the writer will be
writing about, what product deliverables does the client have in mind--
the recruiter says, ?Good questions, but I don?t know. The client won?t
tell me.?
So the other day, my phone rang, and the conversation went something
like this:
Recruiter: ?We have an opportunity we thought you might be interested
in. The client wants to move fairly quickly on this. Are you still
available??
Me: ?Yes.? What does the assignment involve??
Recruiter: The client is looking for somebody who can fill in for
someone else who?ll be on vacation ... someone who?s flexible enough to
punt and who can do cleanup work.?
Me: (By now I?m traumatized by the scope of the assignment, so my jaw
drops, but after counting to ten and clearing my throat, I quickly
regain my composure.) ?What sort of cleanup work??
Recruiter: ?Oh, you?d be maintaining an existing online help system and
doing some other cleanup work for paper manuals.? But it pays XX
dollars!!! Are you interested??
You guessed it! I politely declined to explore that ?technical writing?
opportunity and asked the recruiter to keep me in mind for any
assignments that require original writing, whether on the technical or
marketing side of the house.
Am I being naive to put my career in the hands of hundreds of technical
recruiting firms? Why is it so difficult for recruiters to get the
message that I?m not out to make a quick buck, that the job is more
important than the money? Why aren?t they calling me about jobs that
involve writing and editing? Are they dealing with so many applicants
that they cant? remember who does what? Am I being too trusting? Are
recruiters only interested in lining their pockets with fat
commissions? Does MicroSoft have a monopoly on WinHelp projects?
Might you know any reputable technical recruiting firms in Washington,
D.C. that understand our business, specialize in placing technical
writers, copywriters, reporters, and editors, and are willing to
actively market our skills?
OK, everyone. I?m counting on you to help me get my career back on
track. If you?re plugged into the network, please tell me what I need
to do to get plugged in. What am I not doing that I need to do to reach
technical recruiting specialists?
