Re: Need Professional Advice

[Suzette Seveny <sseveny -at- PETVALU -dot- COM>]

On Thursday, August 27, 1998, John Nesbit wrote:
<snip> It's knowing HOW to learn that is the hard part.
>
>  I think John has some sound advice here--it's a matter of getting out
> of the comfort zone and stretching a little farther than you thought you
> could.
>  I can relate to what you're talking about--even though I was familiar
> with MS-DOS, Windows 95, had made a number of web pages, was an expert
> at using the Internet for teaching purposes, I did NOT know all the
> stuff my company's had me writing about either. BUT I do know how to
> find out information and know how to write, so I'm doing OK--amazingly I
> now have other writers and graphics people asking me advice on computer
> concepts and terms I didn't have the foggiest notions of a few weeks
> ago...
>  You'll survive and eventually feel comfortable in the mainframe world,
> and will look back on these days as one of your better victories.
<end snip>

I agree with what John is saying.  After years of documenting service support
systems, I began documenting financial software for loans, term deposits,
retail banking, investments, etc.  I didn't feel it was too hard, because I
knew a bit about all that stuff - from the other side of the counter though.
 Recently I jumped into the retail market and I find myself writing about point
of sale systems, franchise payment systems, inventory control systems, etc. of
which I know absolutely nothing.  But that helps me in my writing, since I will
ask similar questions to the end user.  I can't take anything for granted - I
have to almost pull the system apart to see how it works, and I make every
mistake/error possible!

Suzette Seveny
Markham, Ontario, Canada
sseveny -at- petvalu -dot- com or suzette -at- yesic -dot- com


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