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> How many of you do proposal writing? Is it solely your responsibility? Or
does your co. have a full-time RFP writer/communications director that
handles them? ...
Seems to me this question got asked and answered recently, but a cursory
look through the archives didn't find the thread. So, I'll bite.
I do proposal work exclusively now, after two years of "regular" software
documentation jobs.
I transferred to a position as "Proposal Coordinator" from my
documentation gig at this company. The title is an apt one; it's more
about coordinating highly complex RFP responses than it is simply writing.
In my scenario, I compose and manage a lots of chunks of boilerplate text,
which need to be inserted and arranged into proposals and RFP responses. I
think writing only comprises about a fourth or a third of the job - it
relies more on my ability to keep track of lots of anal little details,
while juggling several RFPs under always-unrealistic deadlines.
With regard to deadlines and pressure, tech writing is good training for
this line of work. But you do have to be willing to modify your writing
style to be an effective proposal writer; after all, you're SELLING
something! Some of my tech writing buddies turn up their nose at this
stuff. Fair enough, it's not for everybody.
The biggest perk (sp?) I've experienced is that by being involved in the
sales angle, you can attain a much higher profile within your company than
by regular documentation work. As most of us have found, the
garden-variety tech writer is often treated as a second-class citizen,
whether the money is good or not. That's one aspect of "straight" tech
writing that I DON'T miss!
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