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Subject:Radical Idea - a caution From:Dave Whelan <agi259 -at- FREENET -dot- MB -dot- CA> Date:Mon, 12 May 1997 15:43:38 -0500
John Bell asked:
So, hypothetically speaking, would you as a tech writer enjoy a job where
you were doing technical writing, client training, and client
technical support? If the company grows larger and the opportunity to
split into separate disciplines arises, should we split and which
discipline(s) would you want to work in?
John:
I have mixed feelings about your idea. It sounds OK for all the reasons
mentioned by other posters, but I wonder whether this could devalue
technical writers' professional status by getting them to do other (albeit
related) work. In my years as an engineering manager, I would not ask a
design engineer to do training or customer support work unless there was a
good reason for it. It is not cost-effective and, quite rightly in my view,
engineers often resent being asked to do other work unless it is urgently
needed, specific, and temporary. Are technical writers any different?
If the main reason for asking professional writers to do this other work is
to improve their writing skills, and if that is the sole criterion for
deciding who does what and when, it sounds like a great idea. But I don't
think this is what you had in mind, was it?
Only my opinion, but then again, I am a professional writer and I enjoy it.
I don't want to be in technical support or training. So maybe I'm biased.
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