AW: Green TW searching for software advice

[Shea Michael EXT <Michael -dot- Shea -dot- extern -at- icn -dot- siemens -dot- de>]

Call me Michael.

Tools that are marketable:

Authoring tools like FrameMaker and Word.
Online help authoring tools like RoboHelp.
Experience with graphics tools like PhotoShop, Visio, Illustrator.
Plus other stuff like Web Works Publisher, DreamWeaver, FrontPage

Actually to get a really good idea what is marketable, go look at job adds and see what people are asking for. Go to www.monster.de and look for technical writer. Another place to look would be the job boards at the STC chapter web sites.

What I would recommend that you do, if you aren't already doing this in your course work, is to define a project and carry it out. This will serve two purposes:

1) You will gain experience with the tools you use

2) At the end you will have something to show prospective employers

A word of caution. Don't make the project too grandiose. Start small. For example, for one of my courses I wrote a user manual for a ball point pen. It had a TOC, index, illustrations, a single procedure per page, troubleshooting, ordering information, and technical specifications. This kind of project shows thoroughness, follow-through, organizational skills, tool knowledge, and in this case, a sense of humor. (If I do say so myself. I find myself immensely amusing.) Be creative!

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Michael Shea
ROSEMANN & LAURIDSEN GMBH
Am Schlossberg 14, D-82547 Eurasburg, Germany
 
Phone: +49 8179 9307 19, Fax: +49 8179 9307 12
E-Mail: shea -at- r-l -dot- de <mailto:shea -at- r-l -dot- de>, Web: www.r-l.de <http://www.r-l.de>
Handelsregister: München HRB 99345
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	I would like to know what aspects can help me in my ventures out into the
	real technical writing world.  As Shea said "tools that are marketable",
	would be a good focus for my question.

	Thank you for bearing with me.

	                                                           -Tamara Montoya



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