Re: Satisfaction (was ... Re: The value of technical writers)

[Cam Whetstone <camw -at- HOME -dot- COM>]

Barbara Karst-Sabin <barbara -at- QUOTE -dot- COM> wrote:

:Do any of us really feel that techincal writing is a second string job?
:I hope not.  Writing of any kind is a skill few people can claim, being
:able to understand technical material is another skill that few people
:have, put the two together and you have very few people who can do this
:kind of work.  If it seems like everyone can write and everyone
:understands technical material, perhaps it's because we're looking at
:our peer group rather than the real world.
:
:BJ

Well, here I go again.

I do feel that technical writing is a second string job.  Mainly because
most managers feel that way.  Engineers design and develop equipment,
and programmers develop software, that is sold for money.  This hardware
sells for $xx,xxxx, that program sells for $yy,yyyy.  The technical
documentation does not sell--it is given away with the equipment.
Therefore, the documentation group is overhead.  they subtract from the
profit, they do not pay the bills.  Is this valid?  I don't think so,
but most engineering managers I've worked with think that way.

Also, most of the engineers and managers do not understand what we do.
They feel anyone *can* write, even they themselves wrote papers in
college.  What do we do that is so special?  That is the mindset of
those we work with.  Is it any wonder I sometimes feel like a second
class citizen.

I remember a social worker once espoused her theory that garbage
collectors should earn as much as doctors because we need them too.  I
didn't listen to her theory, and I doubt that managers are listening to
ours.  They need our output.  However it is secondary to the product.
If they can figure a way to get it cheaper, gthay will.

I chose technical writing because I fell into it and I was good at it.
I did not have an engineering degree, and they wouldn't let me be CEO.

Cam Whetstone

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