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:Re: Finding a good job title From:Anne_McDonough -at- signalcorp -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 6 Feb 2001 08:35:16 -0500
This reminds me of an argument I had with a recruiter a few months ago. She
called me and said a gov't agency was looking for a mid-level tech writer. I
said I've been doing this for almost 13 years, so I'm a senior tech writer. She
actually argued with me that she was looking at my resume and at some jobs, I
was "just" a tech editor and some jobs I wasn't even listed as a writer.
(Apparently she knows my career better than I do.) I said to read all the job
descriptions and ignore the titles. I told her if she actually read the entire
resume, she'd see that I had been tech writing from day 1 (and also took on
project management, proposals, online help etc., as time went by). But she
kept insisting that that was not what my resume said. I said most of my jobs I
was the only tech writer there, so what would be the point of them calling me
senior TW? Senior to whom? The recruiter was actually yelling at me!!! I ended
the conversation saying she couldn't afford me after she grandly announced that
I would never get the salary I was looking for.
By the way, I did get that salary a month later.
This just proved to me that job titles are only important to recruiters and HR
people who just don't get what we do or can't be bothered to actually read the
resume.
Anne McDonough
(A tech writer who is actually billed out as a Senior Computer Specialist!)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-Based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 ($100 STC Discount)
**WEST COAST LOCATIONS** San Jose (Mar 1-2), San Francisco (Apr 16-17) http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.
Sponsored by ForeFront, Inc., maker of ForeHelp Help authoring tools
for print, WinHelp, HTML Help, JavaHelp, and cross-platform InterHelp
See www.forehelp.com for more information and free evaluation downloads
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
