Scary responsibility in job ad

[Milan Davidović]

Have you written on this one in more detail anywhere (e.g. blog,
newsletter)? Or do you know of a more extensive account on something
similar by someone else?

-- 
Milan Davidović
http://twitter.com/altmilan
http://altmilan.blogspot.com
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/milandavidovic


On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 12:04 PM, Mollye Barrett <mollye at clearpath.cc> wrote:
> OK, can we agree that if we didn't want the responsibility we would not
> apply for the job?
> If we did want the responsibility, how would we meet the challenge?
> I worked with a group of 50 engineers and 8 automotive technicians. I was
> tasked with improving the content provided by engineers. This required
> establishing relationships and and processes. To be sure, some engineers
> were more willing than others. I created standards, provided examples and
> worked with people one-on-one. The automotive  technicians all became
> technical writers with their own area of automotive speciality.Years later,
> they are all employed as technicians who write for auto manufacturers. Some
> engineers improved greatly, some not at all. My performance reviews always
> included a recognition of the improvements or how I would handle the
> challenge. I was responsible for tracking individual improvements and shared
> the progress with my supervisor. He developed a role for me as the
> documentation approver. I could reject poor content if I made solid
> recommendations for improvement.
> This position was one of the best I've ever had and I learned a ton.
> Did every engineer become a stellar technical writer? No.
> Did most improve their writing? Yes.
> Did the overall technical documentation improve? Based on usability scores
> and user feedback, absolutely.
> Call me Silly, but it would have been my loss if I had dismissed the
> position because I thought it was hopeless. We make our won choices.
>
> Mollye Barrett
> ClearPath, LLC
> 414-331-1378  | mollye at clearpath.cc  |  www.clearpath.cc
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/mollyebarrett | http://www.twitter.com/mollye
> Skype: mollyebarrett
> On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 6:20 AM, Writer <generic668 at yahoo.ca> wrote:
>>
>> What I object to is putting the burden and responsibility on the tech
>> writer, rather than where it belongs...on the engineer. I've worked with
>> very few engineers who wanted to improve their communication skills or who
>> even cared. Richard, in your case, you were asked by people who were
>> motivated to learn, and that's great; however, your experiences do not
>> reflect mine. Most engineers I've worked with just want to do what they are
>> told to do; they don't want to discuss it or describe it.
>> IMHO, this requirement is setting the tech writer up for failure. Just
>> because the company wants the engineers to communicate more effectively, it
>> doesn't mean that the engineers want to, are motivated to, or would
>> willingly cooperate with such "coaching".
>> Nadine
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: "Combs, Richard" <richard.combs at Polycom.com>
>> To: Writer <generic668 at yahoo.ca>; framers <framers at lists.frameusers.com>
>> Sent: Thursday, October 6, 2011 6:52:17 PM
>> Subject: RE: Scary responsibility in job ad
>>
>> Writer wrote:
>>
>> > A local company listed this as one of the responsibilities in a job ad
>> > for a technical writer:
>> >
>> > "coach engineers to improve their writing skills"
>> >
>> > It makes me laugh and cringe in equal measures.
>>
>> I'm really surprised at the overwhelmingly negative reaction to this ad.
>> Coaching engineers is cited as just one of the responsibilities; without
>> seeing what the others are, I have no opinion of the ad as a whole, but this
>> specific responsibility certainly doesn't make me laugh, cringe, fear for my
>> future, or get defensive about my profession.
>>
>> I'm asked (yes, often by engineers) language/grammar/writing questions
>> fairly frequently, and in the past when things weren't so busy, I did the
>> occasional short presentation on some language/writing issue at the end of a
>> team meeting. These were well received, and I often got follow-up questions.
>>
>> The engineers I know are intelligent people who understand the value of
>> communicating clearly. They want to improve their writing skills in order to
>> communicate more effectively with each other, managers, and other
>> departments (sales, support, etc.), as well as with me.
>>
>> IMHO, sharing what I know with people who see the value of learning it
>> makes me more valuable. And it's rewarding for me, not cringe-inducing.
>>
>>
>> Richard G. Combs
>> Senior Technical Writer
>> Polycom, Inc.
>> richard.combs at polycom.com
>> 303-223-5111
>> ------
>> rgcombs at gmail.com
>> 303-903-6372
>> ------
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>> You are currently subscribed to framers as mollye at clearpath.cc.
>>
>> Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com.
>>
>> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
>> framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com
>> or visit
>> http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/mollye%40clearpath.cc
>>
>> Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit
>> http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
> You are currently subscribed to framers as milan.lists at gmail.com.
>
> Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com.
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com
> or visit
> http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/milan.lists%40gmail.com
>
> Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit
> http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
>
>