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RE: What areas of FrameMaker should I focus on as a new technical writer?
Subject:RE: What areas of FrameMaker should I focus on as a new technical writer? From:"James Barrow" <vrfour -at- verizon -dot- net> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 11 Apr 2006 10:08:11 -0700
>Andy Kelsall wrote:
>I've just completed a technical writing program and will be looking for a
>position as a technical writer in the near future.
>I realize a lot of employers require knowledge of FM for any technical
>writing position within their company. Because FM can do so much, I'm
>looking for advice on what areas I should focus on now to land that first
>job. My hope is to be proficient in certain areas of FM to land my first
>position, then improve my skills/knowledge of FM once I'm working in the
>technical writing field. Any advice from those working in the field?
This posting is ironic as it posted at the same time as mine, and I think
we're both looking for the same information.
I can tell you that I have worked with FM in the past, but the companies
that I worked for already had templates in place and only needed re-writes
of existing material.
A recent employer however required much more and opened my eyes to what a
powerful application FM is. This employer not only wanted rewrites of
existing material, they also wanted that material ported over to new
templates (the ability to create templates is something employers
appreciate). Not only that, the manager that I worked for wanted the
documentation created using the keyboard only - no mouse. This was to save
time.
There are also several "tricks" that you can use with FM. Most of these are
keyboard shortcuts, etc. that make things like manipulating graphics easier.
This is the information that I am looking for. Since it's been six months
since I've used FM, I've forgotten the basics: keyboard shortcuts, creating
a TOC, opening books from within the TOC, etc. I need a resource to help
get me back up to speed.
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