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If you need to work closely with engineers and trust them to make actual edits to your docs or need to have people from other teams edit docs... you can end up in a Word shop. High end publishing tools come with high end prices and no one wants to pay for everyone to have them anymore. I did my first set of "interview materials" (a list of formal procedures and instructions for our university IT help desk back in the day where yes, someone DID think the CD drive was a coaster) it was all done in Word. First full time job after that it was Unix stations and Intergrief... I mean Interleaf, which many of the high end engineers also had copies of to work directly on documents. Moved to Framemaker while still at that job and have used it mostly since, but even with other programs the big deal was not knowing how that particular software worked, it was understanding the basics of how any good word processing/publishing tool should optimally be used.
That said... for someone about to start the job search for the first time, have some good samples ready to show off (you would not believe even in this day and age, people who have been in the profession for multiple years that don't offer up samples). If the price of Framemaker is too dear, the instructional books on it are not as much and can still give you an idea, and when you get a phone interview find out which tools they use, download the trials, and try to ramp up as much as you can. People can argue Frame vs. Word until they are blue in the face - if you are just getting out of college there are probably people who HAVE been having that argument for your entire lifetime - the truth is that especially as someone new to the profession, you don't get to make that decision and you have to be willing to adapt to what the hiring company is looking for.
And if you don't buy but just do a trial of an expensive piece of software like Frame (which would likely be the main thing you would need, not the whole Tech Comm Suite), even if the job doesn't come through, spend the rest of the trial learning as much as you can.
- V
-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Brierley
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2015 2:27 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Future Tech Writer with Software Questions
So, I use Word successfully. My numbered lists are tied to styles, and I do not use the ribbon buttons. That said, I also have FrameMaker, and use it successfully also. And, in a cruel twist of fate, I have InDesign tech documents, also ... those are the worst. FrameMaker is more efficient but less usable by my employer, if that makes sense.
TGIF and sending good thoughts for the #USWNT v #CHN today!
Cheers,
Sean
On Fri, Jun 26, 2015 at 3:24 PM, Dan Goldstein <DGoldstein -at- nuot -dot- com> wrote:
> So you're saying that efficient work that yields high-quality
> documentation for a successful company... that's Dilbert-land?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Lauriston
> Sent: Friday, June 26, 2015 3:17 PM
> To: TECHWR-L (techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com)
> Subject: Re: Future Tech Writer with Software Questions
>
> You don't rely on Word's toolbar / ribbon to get complex numbering to
> behave reliably, do you?
>
> I didn't say it's impossible, only that you need to use advanced
> techniques and it's a ticket to Dilbert-land.
>
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--
*Sean Brierley*
Technical Writer
*Gerber Technology*, *A Gerber Scientific Company*
24 Industrial Park Rd West
Tolland, CT 06084 USA
860-871-3881 phone
860-875-4357 fax
www.gerbertechnology.com
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Learn more about Adobe Technical Communication Suite (2015 Release) | http://bit.ly/1FR7zNW
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Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
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Learn more about Adobe Technical Communication Suite (2015 Release) | http://bit.ly/1FR7zNW
