Re: How do hiring companies view TW resumes?

[Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

This has been interesting. I've never before thought of technical writing in conjunction with something as big as a house. All of my experience has been with things on a much smaller scale.

I probably should have made the connection, since I used to work on tanks and I remember the maintenance manuals we had then. Army manuals definitely supported the view that line drawings were better than photographs for maintenance procedures. When a manual did include a photo, the reproduction was almost always of such horribly low quality you really couldn't tell what you were looking at.


--- On Fri, 4/2/10, Ken Poshedly <poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net> wrote:

> From: Ken Poshedly <poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net>
> Subject: Re: How do hiring companies view TW resumes?
> To: "Jon Leer" <jleer -at- leertech -dot- net>, "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Date: Friday, April 2, 2010, 3:31 PM
> My previous employers were "real"
> hardware companies that made heavy construction equipment or
> designed and built cement manufacturing plants.
> 
> _Can_ some of the tech writing on those things be done
> elsewhere than at the office? Yes, but often -- too often --
> access to in-person engineers and other subjectmatter
> experts as well as engineering plots and other source
> material is required. And you just don't know when you're
> going to need that access.
> 
> And if "John, the engineer" is simply avoiding phone calls,
> you're out of luck. Had you been onsite, you could meet up
> with him in the breakroom or just stop in to see him and
> even watch him avoid phone calls.
> 
> I recall when a former employer (factory equipment) back in
> 1990 or so brought in "voicemail" and we in tech pubs saw
> the success rate of getting info from the design engineers
> drop immediately because "they" were considered important
> and we simply weren't that high on the totem pole.
> 
> Plus, many companies either don't have or don't allow their
> tech writers to have online access to engineering data. My
> company is Asian and apparently, telecommuting is
> simply not known or not accepted there because the culture
> is very controlled. Like it or not, that's the way it is.
> 
> There's any number of reasons why telecommuting is not
> accepted, but the biggest one is that the company simply
> doesn't want it. Remember when your parents said you can't
> go to the movies, and you said why not and they said (or
> shouted), "BECAUSE I SAID SO!!!!"
> 
> Those things being said, all of your points are valid, but
> don't change things. I moved here from way up north for a
> good job offer (I was out of work and married at the time)
> and feared what would happen if I lost my job (with no
> extensive safety net of friends/family nearby). I did get
> cut from staff (the only tech writer in the 425-person
> company) after two years, but latched onto another company a
> mere two weeks later and was there for 12 years. And so on.
> 
> It's just the way bit is.
> 
> -- Kenpo
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Jon Leer <jleer -at- leertech -dot- net>
> To: Ken Poshedly <poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net>;
> TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Sent: Fri, April 2, 2010 6:37:31 AM
> Subject: RE: How do hiring companies view TW resumes?
> 
> Bear with me... I am not picking on you or your company. I
> really would like
> to understand this way of thinking.
> 
> Can you explain to me the absolute reasons for requiring
> relocation?
> 
> Is your equipment so unique that 40 hours hands-on is
> required?
> Is it your culture?
> Is it the fear that other employees will want to
> telecommute?
> Or what is it?
> 
> If you take all of the tasks that a writer would have to do
> in a given week,
> how many of the 40 hours entails physically being at your
> site? 
> 
> After many years of hearing the same relocation required/no
> telecommuting
> mantra by companies it is hilarious that they don't just
> come out and say
> why it is required. 
> 
> For years I have seen many companies nix telecommuting that
> would take
> advantage of resources who are out of the immediate area,
> and then turn
> around and outsource the work to another country. Go
> figure.
> 
> My problem with relocation (as I am sure for many) is the
> total uncertainty
> of the during of the job. 
> 
> Here's a typical example which actually happened in the
> early 90s. For many
> years a chemical engineer with his Masters and loads of
> management
> experience had been working for a well-known company in
> Lousiana close to
> where he grew up. Management called him in with the other
> managers and
> announced the company had been sold. Their choice was to
> relocate to another
> division in Oklahoma because the present location would be
> closed. 
> 
> Several managers decided to relocate. He was reluctant
> because he didn't
> want to give up everything and everybody he knew in his
> home town. Plus, the
> Gulf area had tons of petroleum jobs. With his experience,
> he'd land another
> position in no time. 
> 
> 1 1/2 years after his company closed, he was still
> unemployed because many
> of the oil and gas jobs had evaporated (remember the early
> 90s?) Actually
> his story was picked up by the Wall St. Journal, and he was
> working some
> menial tasks (dishwasher sounds familiar). 
> 
> A year later he found a non-management position near his
> home town at half
> of his original pay. And what had happened to his fellow
> managers who had
> take the relocation package and pulled up roots (family and
> all)? Well,
> about 2 years into the job the division was sold and
> closed. Everybody was
> laid off. 
> 
> 
> Jonathan Leer
> Leer Technical Communications
> 603-315-4029
> http://www.leertech.net
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+jleer=leertech -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jleer=leertech -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
> On Behalf Of
> Ken Poshedly
> Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 5:25 PM
> To: Keith Hood; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com;
> Dan Goldstein
> Subject: Re: How do hiring companies view TW resumes?
> 
> FWIW, we've been looking to hire another tech writer here
> in metro Atlanta
> (heavy equipment manufacturing) and have contacted nearly a
> dozen good
> candidates, men and women, all from out of state because
> those are where the
> resumes are from. We've talked with some and left repeated
> voicemails for
> others to call back at their convenience. Only two that I
> know of have
> returned calls. These are folks who know up front where my
> company is
> located.
> 
> Two candidates were contacted by my supervisor after my
> initial phone
> interview; I explain during my phone call that relocation
> is required and
> tele-commuting is not acceptable. Both said relocation was
> not a concern;
> some new-hires rent an apartment nearby before moving
> spouse and kids here
> (if any).
> 
> But then both of those two candidates backed out after
> getting a solid offer
> by telephone from my boss; both said their spouse was
> against it; one was a
> woman and the other was a guy.
> 
> We finally have someone (from out of state) coming in on
> Friday a.m. to
> interview (we're covering all expenses). With great
> experience in this field
> of heavy equipment tech writing as a writer and later as a
> supervisor and
> even manager, I really do believe he's overqualified to be
> just a _TECH
> WRITER_, but my boss wants him because of that experience.
> Will he stay?
> Will he look to climb into my or even my boss's job? Time
> will tell.
> Otherwise, he's great.
> 
> -- Kenpo in Atlanta
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com;
> Dan Goldstein
> <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com>
> Sent: Thu, April 1, 2010 4:27:59 PM
> Subject: RE: How do hiring companies view TW resumes?
> 
> I think when someone tells a candidate he is
> "overqualified," that is also
> something of an indication of how things go at that
> company. A hiring
> decider often uses "overqualified" to mean "I'm afraid
> you'll find a better
> job and leave too soon and we'll have to start the hiring
> process all over
> again." But that can't be so much of a problem in a down
> market like this
> where any job is damn difficult to find, much less a better
> job. And that
> isn't so much of a problem at companies where employees
> like their work and
> the environment. Even in a good market, leaving for a
> better job is less of
> a consideration if you enjoy the current job and like the
> people. If the
> hiring decider fears you won't stick around long enough to
> give him a return
> on the time/money spent in the hiring process, it may be he
> realizes but
> doesn't like thinking the company has a tendency to give
> people incentive to
> look elsewhere. 
> 
> "Overqualified" also sometimes translates as "we're afraid
> there would be
> personnel management problems because you'd embarrass the
> 2nd-raters we
> already have working here." If they start using
> "overqualified" *after* you
> interview, you can be certain this is the correct
> translation.
> 
> 
> --- On Thu, 4/1/10, Dan Goldstein <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com>
> wrote:
> 
> > From: Dan Goldstein <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com>
> > Subject: RE: How do hiring companies view TW resumes?
> > To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > Date: Thursday, April 1, 2010, 2:58 PM
> > An update on this from the NYT:
> > 
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/us/29overqualified.html
> > 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Dan Goldstein 
> > > Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 2:31 PM
> > > To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > > Subject: RE: How do hiring companies view TW
> resumes?
> > > 
> > > AFAIK, "overqualified" rarely means, "Someone
> less
> > qualified 
> > > than you would do a better job." It usually
> means, "We
> > can't 
> > > afford to hire someone as qualified as you." At
> least
> > they're 
> > > acknowledging how qualified you are.
> > > 
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Bill Swallow
> > > > Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 2:16 PM
> > > > To: 
> > > > Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > > > Subject: Re: How do hiring companies view
> TW
> > resumes?
> > > > 
> > > > ... I've never heard "overqualified" more
> than I
> > have in the past
> > > > 15 months.
> > > > 
> > > 
> > 
> > 
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