Scary responsibility in job ad

[Tim Pann]

Tends to make me feel pretty good too, as a Senior Trainer/Technical
Writer with a degree in Engineering... :)

Tim

-----Original Message-----
From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com
[mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Combs,
Richard
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 3:52 PM
To: Writer; framers
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
------




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