RE: Career path

["Giordano, Connie" <Connie -dot- Giordano -at- FMR -dot- COM>]

Once again the "just writers" thread appears.

I spend 20% of my day writing, but my title is "technical writer".  Don't
necessarily like it, because in this environment, it means little to other
departments -- I've fought steadily for three years to show that I can and
will do much more than format documents and argue two spaces after a period.
Previous "technical writers" did little more than edit and format, so it was
a challenge to say the least.

I do QA, product design, information architecture, training, graphics and
layout, multi-media design. For starters.

If you want to be "just a writer", more power to you... many, many of us do
so much more, than write, and thus "technical writer" is as misleading a job
title as "technical communications specialist".  

Don't diss me for being a technical communicator, and I won't diss you for
being a writer.

MTC
Connie P. Giordano
Senior Technical Writer
Advisor Technology Services
A Fidelity Investments Company
704-330-2069 (w)
704-330-2350 (f)
704-957-8450 (c)
connie -dot- giordano -at- fmr -dot- com <mailto:connie -dot- giordano -at- fmr -dot- com> 
 
"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to
do it." - Pablo Picasso 



-----Original Message-----
From: Tuples -at- aol -dot- com [mailto:Tuples -at- aol -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 7:21 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Career path



In a message dated 7/31/02 3:42:05 PM Mountain Standard Time, 
janiceg -at- marvin -dot- eng -dot- sun -dot- com writes:

> > In my experience in the job market, the term "Technical Communication
>  > Specialist" has referred to a sub-Junior Technical Writer position.
That
>  > could be particular to my own limited experience.
In a message dated 7/31/02 3:42:05 PM Mountain Standard Time, 
janiceg -at- marvin -dot- eng -dot- sun -dot- com writes:

> > In my experience in the job market, the term "Technical Communication
>  > Specialist" has referred to a sub-Junior Technical Writer position.
That
>  > could be particular to my own limited experience.

In MY opinion, the above title is all fluff, self-serving and silly. Why is 
it that we have to be more than we really are? It is like McDonand's workers

being something, something specialists. They flip burgers, plain and simple.

I guess we often feel we are not that important so we grab a title that is 
rather misleading. 

Sorry if some of you are bothered by my rather jaded comments, but I hate it

when people say they are Customer Service Specialists. Typically, they are 
either a server in a restaurant or a salesman. But this is my opinion. 

We are writers, plain and simple. Go ahead, hate this comment, but we are 
just writers. I am guessing many here have very narrow views of what 
Technical Writers actually do. No offense, but I seldom see anyone
discussing 
the other jobs writers do that are just as important and can justifiably be 
called technical writers.

Bob



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