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.
RE: real tech writers? RE: Out-of-Work Tech Writers and Switching Careers
Subject:RE: real tech writers? RE: Out-of-Work Tech Writers and Switching Careers From:Steven Brown <stevenabrown -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 25 Jun 2002 12:45:29 -0700 (PDT)
John,
As usual, you're on target.
Having just gone through a three-month period of
unemployment, I know how hard it is to decline even
those positions that pay substandard rates/salaries.
Although we can encourage each other to do the same,
there will always be writers willing to accept low
wages. And I can understand why they do; principles
are easy to uphold when you've got $25,000 in the bank
account, but when you're not flushing the toilet every
time in an effort to save on the water bill, your
worldview is much different.
Ironically, a week into my new job, my prior employer
asked me to help them update their (my?)
documentation. I was their sole writer, so who better?
I quoted them a reasonable rate, but I never heard
back from them. These are the same people who, prior
to my joining the company a year ago, bought but
discarded RoboHelp because it was too complicated.
Even corporations must sleep in the beds they make!
Maybe they'll find someone to do the work for half my
price, but I have to believe that a series of small,
bad decisions culminates in systemic failures.
If there's any consolation in the predicament of the
technical writing profession, it's this: I don't think
it's much different within other professions. Look at
all the poorly designed B2B software that's out there.
(Hey, we document it so we know just how shabby it can
be.) How much of that was designed by programmers who
entered their line of work, not because they're
passionate about technology, programming, and solving
problems, but because the media told them that they
could make a lot of money with only a few classes in
C++ or Java under their cell-phone-laden belts? How
much more successful would these projects have been
had they been run and designed by true, hardcore
programmers supported by business analysts who were
true subject matter experts?
Just my random thoughts.
Steven Brown
Senior Technical Writer
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out RoboDemo for tutorials! It makes creating full-motion software
demonstrations and other onscreen support materials easy and intuitive.
Need RoboHelp? Save $100 on RoboHelp Office in May with our mail-in rebate.
Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
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.
