Re: What constitutes a senior tech writer and how to get there?

[Melissa Fisher <mfisher -at- AUTOMATEDLOGIC -dot- COM>]

Lisa Higgins writes....

* Unless you are an intern, your training and education are not management's
responsibility. Frankly, nobody else in your workplace really gives a hang
about your 'career.' Expecting someone else to manage it for you is asking
for trouble.

I agree that Anonymous (and all tech writers, for that matter) ought to take
charge of his or her own tech writing destiny, particularly considering the
obvious lack of support he or she is currently getting. However, I would not
blame Anonymous either for getting poor reviews. In my opinion it is
management's responsibility to judge Anon's performance based on the work
assigned to them. Management has no business complaining that Anon's skills are
not "senior level" when management has asked Anon to spend an entire year
proofreading.

I assume that management knew of Anon's lack of education and experience before
hiring him or her. I think that expecting a senior writer in three years from
someone with no background or experience is an unrealistic expectation for
almost anyone. For a manager to expect that, then fail to provide the employee
with opportunities to meet these goals, then criticize the employee for not
meeting goals, only shows that perhaps the manager needs to enhance his or her
own management skills.

Melissa Fisher
mfisher -at- automatedlogic -dot- com


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=