Re: What constitutes a senior tech writer and how to get there?

["Higgins, Lisa" <LHiggins -at- CARRIERACCESS -dot- COM>]

It's really difficult to get a grasp of this situation based on the
information provided, but this is a shot in the dark. Try it on and see if
it ... ummm ... inflicts any flesh wounds. I'll start with a couple of
random points.

* I don't think someone with three years' experience would normally qualify
as a senior writer, even if they do have education and training.

* Someone on this list pointed out once that there's a big difference
between having ten years' of experience and having one year of experience
ten times over. This is very true. To the person who said that: You were
right.

* Unless you are an intern, your training and education are not management's
responsibility. Frankly, nobody else in your workplace really gives a hang
about your 'career.' Expecting someone else to manage it for you is asking
for trouble. If we left it up to our management to decide what we do,
probably 50% of the people on this list would be making copies and typing
memos for a living.

Decide what you want to do. Do you really want to be a tech writer? Do you
believe that you have the talent and the skills required to do well at it?
There's nothing wrong with you if you don't, but before you worry too much
about how to go about it, you have to decide whether to go about it.

If you really do want to be a tech writer, do it. Join the STC if you want
to, get some books about it, teach yourself some new tools, and most
importantly, look around and see what's missing. One big difference between
a junior and senior tech writer is that a senior writer does not wait around
for managers and developers to tell them when they need something. Who is
more qualified to determine whether documentation is going to be necessary
for a project, and if so, what medium and approach to use for it?

Lisa.


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