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.
Subject:RE: Story of my life From:Syed Ahmed <SAhmed -at- DKSYSTEMS -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 22 Aug 2002 14:28:07 -0500
--- John Posada <JPosada -at- book -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Just received this email that was sent to the team:
>
> ------
> "Team,
> Status meeting in 10 minutes.
> John is optional, as always."
John, your post got me thinking about how Tech Writers are perceived by
others in the workplace. This isn't a new topic of discussion, and has been
repeatedly discussed on this list.
But I thought I would offer some of the comments people felt comfortable
enough to make to my face (for whatever reason). Just a few anecdotes that
may or may not make you smile. They initially infruriated me at the time,
but I can look back and laugh now. :) Also, for the newbies, these comments
taught me that you MUST have a thick skin if you plan on succeeding as a TW.
- I feel bad for you. You're just stuck writing things; not like my job,
where I'm always learning and growing professionally. (clueless helpdesk
rep)
- So where do you see yourself here in five years? You JUST wanna be a tech
writer? Tsk. Tsk. I thought you were more ambitious than that. (vp)
- You do documentation?!?! Documentation is [expletive] weak!! Why do you
wanna sit around and write things down? The real brainwork is in coding and
design!! (fresh college grad working in first IT job; drunk at a bar)
I defended myself and our profession to the best of my abilities, but these
people/comments still pop up every now and again. These are all I can think
of for now, but I'd love to hear yours.
Syed
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out the new release of RoboDemo, our easy-to-use tutorial software.
Plus, buy RoboHelp Office in August and save $100 with our mail-in rebate.
Get details and download free trial versions at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
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.
