RE: Applying On-Line

["Glenn Maxey" <glenn -dot- maxey -at- voyanttech -dot- com>]

> A couple of folks mentioned they wouldn't hire tech writers who
> formatted their resumes in Normal style. 

I never said that I wouldn't hire someone. I just said that it marked
them down a peg or two for legitimate reasons (mentioned in several
other posts.)

> You are assuming that a Word resume was created with Word.
> I write my resume in HTML/CSS and import it into Word
> (el cheapo single-sourcing), and Word formats it correctly. It
> actually does use structured CSS, but the Word styles are all
> Normal.

So you have a damn good answer when I put you on the hot-seat with the
question "Did you know that you re-defined the Normal style five times
on one page?"

I'd accept your answer. No problem. You immediately go up double the
number of pegs that I marked you down.

I've met a lot of people outside of technical writing (e.g.,
secretaries, marketing types, etc.) who used Word regularly. They used
it 8 hours a day. They said that they were experts yet called me (who
uses other tools 8 hours a day) to fix their problems. Their problems
almost _always_ related to _not_ using styles.

Worse, they had this mistaken impression that all of their documents
were so short, it didn't make sense to use styles. "It takes me five
seconds to hightlight this paragraph and click the Bold button." They
conveniently ignore the fact that the paragraph has other
characteristics - leading/trailing space, indenting, tabs, etc. - that
take time to define and that they spend much of their time re-defining
things that could have been specified once and simply re-used within and
between documents. They ignore the fact that five other paragraphs need
this same definition. Worse, every document they produce needs these
paragraph definitions. Five seconds per paragraph per document per
employee adds up.

These same people also drove to and from work in a car everyday and
claimed to be good/expert drivers, "been doin' it for years." Just by
looking at their document with formats revealed and considering their
professed skill levels at driving and in Word, you could come to some
startling conclusions:

- They knew where Reverse, 1st, and 3rd gears were in their car. Never
mind about 2nd, 4th, and 5th.

- They knew where the clutch and brake pedal were, but not the gas
pedal.

- They were fair weather drivers, because they didn't know where the
lights or wipers were located.

- They knew all about the radio, but nothing about turn signals.

- They got to their destination - barely - but don't ask them to retrace
their route and do it again the same, because they can't.

I'm not referring to anything that is under the hood of either their car
or Word. 

Plain and simple, styles are the one "advanced" element in Word that
provides hints about your (Word) driving skill level. All else being
equal between two candidates, the one who used styles suggests they:

- aren't B.S.ing about knowing the tools well.
- are consistent.
- can be a team player.
- are forward-thinking regarding not just today's needs, but tomorrow's
as well. (Re-usability.)

In terms of Word abilities, I like to think that technical writers are
better than secretaries and marketing types. We're more likely to create
TOCs and indices than those. We're more likely to have several numbered
lists and bulleted lists in the same document. Not easy without styles.

Hence, what we deliver should reflect our superior skills in the tools.

Glenn

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Attention ForeHelp and Doc-to-Help Users! Upgrade your existing product to
RoboHelp for only $299, through January 31st. RoboHelp can import your
existing Help projects! Learn how else RoboHelp can benefit you. www.ehelp.com/techwr

---
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.