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Back in the olden days, I was known as the DCF Queen (anyone out there remember
DCF and mainframe-based text editors?). However, my company was too cheap at the
time to pay for business cards for anyone below the level of officer, so the
question of what to put on my business card never came up.
Turning back to the topic at hand, I don't think there's anything immoral or
inappropriate about stating, on your business cards and elsewhere, what you
actually do. If what you do now is technical writing, put technical writer on
your card. If my job title is Assistant Fishmonger but I've never mongered a
fish, that doesn't make me a fishmonger. If have been, and currently have the
skills to be a fishmonger, yet what I'm actually doing is technical writing,
I'll put Technical Writer on my business card.
Jo
Company Name Withheld (they do provide me with business cards now)
"SHIELDS,SUSAN (HP-FtCollins,ex1)" wrote:
> Hi Meg,
>
> You asked:
> >Is it ethical and appropriate to put "technical writer" on my business
> cards,
> >even if that isn't my official job title?
>
> I'm not even going touch the ethical part. As for "appropriate," I,
> personally, don't see why not. It's descriptive of what you do. I often have
> to ask for a clear text explanation of official job titles, so it seems
> expedient and expeditious to type yourself up front. Perhaps you could blend
> your title and your reality...Aerospace engineer/Technical writer.
>
> I've always wanted to put Documentation Goddess on my business cards but my
> employers seem to think that's excessive...
>
> Susan
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