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.
> I will be the only employee of my company. However,
> if I get a lot of calls
> for work, I will need to hire someone.
I think you should try working by yourself for a while
before you worry about too many calls for work coming
in. *g*
> I will probably need to send resumes
> to the client.
Not if they are technically your employees. But if you
are *placing* temporary workers, then yes, you might.
But what are you lookign to do? Be a tech writing
consulting shop or a tech writer outplacement service?
> I was thinking about putting an ad in
> the local paper asking
> technical writers to send me their resume for
> potential contract positions.
> Does this seem like a good plan?
You could... but don't be surprised if these
applicants get upset that you don't have any work for
them. If you rub them really wrong, they might not be
there for you when you *do* have work lined up. I've
had a few contract shops blow me off when they asked
for resumes (not even a "got your resume, thanks"
reply), and when they *did* call me back (a few months
later), I was more than happy to tell them where they
could put that job.
> Other technical writing companies offer to do work
> on or off site. If a technical
> writer were making a Help system, wouldn't it be
> almost impossible to make the
> Help without having access to the company's
> application? The writer would need
> to talk to developers and take screen shots almost
> every day. How can a technical
> writer really work at home and make a company's Help
> system?
Depends on the project workflow. Is there existing
documentation? Can the application be installed
off-site? Would 1 day on-site a week suffice?
Of course there's the whole issue of whether or not
screen captures should be used in Help to begin with,
but your underlying point is valid, and it does depend
on many existing project factors. Sometimes remote
work can work out nicely, and other times on-site is a must.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by April 30. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
Are you using Doc-to-Help or ForeHelp? Switch to RoboHelp for Word for $249
or to RoboHelp Office for only $499. Get the PC Magazine five-star rated
Help authoring tool for less! Go to http://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.
