Will Kelly

3 Things Nobody will tell you about Remote Writing Projects

I've become sort of a student of remote working because of my freelancing and consulting work. A special area of interest is the changes (both good and bad) in dynamics and project management  that sometimes occur when a remote technical writer joins the team.

While this post speaks more about remote technical writing projects, you may find that you've bumped up against one or more of these things while working as a remote writer:

Will Today's Economy Further Thin Out IT Contracting Firms?

The thought passed my mind today after hearing about more than one low ball technical writing contract off and on over the past few months is if today's economy, corporate indecision, and skewed corporate perceptions that the perfect senior person can be found for cheap is going to further thin out the IT contracting firm herd.

I say this because the bulk of most recruiters salary is paid on a commission basis meaning they have to place people and the fact that some IT contract openings have been open for months as employers get lost in indecision, hand wringing, and a myriad of other issues I can only pretend to understand.

Five Things Technical Writers need to do at least Once

I've had a chance to meet with some technical writers, hiring managers, and potential clients over the past few weeks and the picture of the technical writing profession remains as troubled as ever.

While many senior technical writers are driven into contracting there is still an insular technical writing community that has never taken such risks. Personally, I think every technical writer needs to spend some time as a W2 and independent contractor and publish original work to expand their own horizons beyond just font fondling.

Writing Samples for Technical Writers

My latest round of interviews and potential client meetings are causing me to reflect about writing samples and their use in the interview process.

At least in my experience, what passes for quality technical writing can vary slightly if not significantly from one organization to another. This means that an A+ document in one organization may not cut it in another organization.

Kelly's Laws of Non-Disclosure Agreements

I've recently had cause to rethink of the whole concept of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) as of late and I am finding the whole concept has been prostituted by tech companies (prompted by their attorneys) because they are way too insecure of their intellectual property (or lack thereof).

Recession Proofing your Company's Technical Documentation

So you've outsourced your company's technical documentation to contractors and now you are facing a much tighter budget in 2009?

Leaving Technical Writing

It's time to turn out the lights. I've had a great run as a technical writer and consultant but it's time to leave the profession. In some ways I've long outgrown technical writing because client needs as a consultant challenged me and pushed me to become more than just a technical writer.

Observations from Putting my Resume Out There (Yet Again)

Prior to getting a new contract extension, I was back out on the job market for a brief time. It was obvious the market is slowing down for agency recruiters because there seemed to be more interested in my references (so they can cold call them)  versus getting me in front of their client for an interview.

Here are some of my observations from my brief junket into today's job market:

Kelly's Laws of Wiki Implementation

Wikis should be a force for good. Unfortunately, my experience on client sites where they've implemented  wikis has always been very black and white. The user community is either craving a wiki or they find it too disorganized and difficult to use.

Technical Writer Job Postings as a Source of Amusement

I never stop reading technical writer job postings even when I am  ensconced in a gig. This recent posting on craigslist made me laugh out loud. I changed the email address of the recruiter to something more appropriate.

They are asking for a lot while paying $20.00/hr (on a 1099!). The sad thing is that there will be some loser/poseur technical writer who can barely fire up Microsoft Word who will take this gig. I can only guess the margin they are taking off this deal.

Prepare to laugh at the job posting after the jump.

The Sins of Offshoring

Barry Campbell over at the Knowledge Work blog links to an interesting article in CIO Magazine that compares offshoring to the seven deadly sins.

Hiring Technical Writers

With every every contract hunt, I see something new on the market.

It seems  more people are unhappy with the technical writers they are hiring. I still hold to the fact that the problem is part hiring manager and part the current state of the technical writer profession. Personally, I always tell organizations that they have to write their own technical writer job description and decided what is the "right documentation" for their needs. On this last round, I talked to three organizations where technical documentation was floundering.

Here are links to articles I've written about hiring technical writers and outsourcing technical documentation:

• Tips for Outsourcing Your Technical Documentation, Processor Magazine, September 2, 2005
• Strategies when hiring a technical writer, CNET Builder.com, July 14, 2003
• Working with contract technical writers for documentation needs, CNET Builder.com,  October 29, 2002

Return of the Stupid Recruiter Files

Even while the market is definitely perking in my local area, it seems with every contract hunt you have to face a certain level of indignity. My friends and I always share our funny recruiter stories.

I just got hit with a doozy that I will be certain to file in the Stupid Recruiter Files...

Lucky #13 or “Why Johnny Can’t Write Technical Documentation”

I’ve started this post a couple of time but hit delete. While the STC is up in a lather over technical writer making #13 on Consumer Reports  Money Advisor best jobs list, I am still so confused over how technical writer made the list in the first place.

My criticism about the technical writer profession can easily be found searching this site. However, I’ve also written articles on the issues surrounding the hiring of technical writers and outsourcing of technical documentation.

How can technical writer make the list in a world where:

1. Senior technical writers are often exiled out to the contractor iceberg when they want to earn a living wage.
2. Everybody has had a bad experience with technical writers or so the joke goes.
   
3. Technical staff flashback to freshman comp 101 and other mandatory English classes meaning documentation is relegated to the backburner.
   
4. Hiring managers have a hard time qualifying their technical documentation needs.
   
5. Too many organizations are confused about the true potential and role of a technical writer and the role of the technical writer falls into the administrative assistant/receptionist/barista/copy editor/bottle washer/desktop publisher black hole.
   
6. Technical writing is a young person's profession by and large because it is often classed as a support function meaning there  are corners to be cut.
7. End customers have low expectations about technical documentation meaning they may never RTFM.
   

Debunking the Myth of India as a Technology and Economic Powerhouse

Barry Campbell's excellent Knowledge Work blog points to an excellent NYT article entitled The Myth of the New India which debunks a lot of the myths being spewed about India as a technology and economic powerhouse.

Here are some interesting facts from the article:

• Lakshmi Mittal, the fifth richest man in the world, actually lives in London and just made an investment in his home country last year.
• But the increasingly common, business-centric view of India suppresses more facts than it reveals. Recent accounts of the alleged rise of India barely mention the fact that the country's $728 per capita gross domestic product is just slightly higher than that of sub-Saharan Africa and that, as the 2005 United Nations Human Development Report puts it, even if it sustains its current high growth rates, India will not catch up with high-income countries until 2106.
  
  
• Nor is India rising very fast on the report's Human Development index, where it ranks 127, just two rungs above Myanmar and more than 70 below Cuba and Mexico. Despite a recent reduction in poverty levels, nearly 380 million Indians still live on less than a dollar a day.
  
  
• Only 1.3 million out of a working population of 400 million are employed in the information technology and business processing industries that make up the so-called new economy.

Odd Technical Writer Resume on Craigslist

I've always read resumes online to get ideas for my own and see what other people are thinking on their job hunt. The resume section on dc.craigslist.org is one of my favorite reads in this regard. Recently, I came across the resume of a technical writer with the typical (albeit undistinguished) Washington, DC technical writer's career (read lots of telcom and government contractors) and no mention of a college degree (the Washington marketplace is a stickler for college degrees).

I have a portfolio of published material that I can bring to any interview around the beltway. The head hunters for Fannie Mae tell me the going rate for my skill set is $60/hour. Let me know what you have, and I will send you my resume in MS Word format. Thanks!

Outside of that Fannie Mae reference, there was no mention of him ever working at Fannie Mae. So if he was really told that by one of the contract houses placing technical writers at the financial institution then why hasn't he ever done a contract there? Why did he lead off with such a claim in the first place?

Setting your Project Documentation up to Fail

While the current sorry state of the technical writer profession should carry much of the blame about project documentation failures, hiring managers aren't without sin in the matter.

Hiring managers are within their full rights to roll their own kind of technical writer. Most managers don't want to worry about their project documentation though they pour such little foresight into the potential success of the activity.

How ambiguity killed the technical writer

Too many technical writers live ensconced in style guides, single sourcing, FrameMaker, processes, and methodologies away from the business of developing software. This monk like college advanced composition teacher existence can separate the technical writer from the realities of today’s dysfunctional workplace.

Technical documentation and organizations

The rise of compliancy programs like Sarbanes Oxley and COSO have made me think about how some organizations view the role of documentation.

The Documentation Unfriendly Organization: These organizations are unfriendly to all forms of technical documentation for a range of cultural and political reasons or just plan bad experiences with technical writers. Compliance programs like Sarbanes-Oxley and COSO are going to play havoc with such organizations.

The Documentation I Don’t Know Organization: These organizations know they require documentation for their systems but have lacked the formality, structure and resources to document their internal controls and systems. These organizations may indeed rise to the requirements of such compliance programs as Sarbanes-Oxley and COSO but maintaining large documentation for the long term are going to be a challenge without hiring the right technical writing resources.

The Documentation Friendly Organization: These organizations are often times rare. However, technical writers need to be strong and business savvy contributors to instill their value. These organizations still need to manage the requirements facing them from compliance programs like Sarbanes Oxley and COSO.

When lack of substantial documentation attacks

Marines terminate Accenture contract (from Federal Computer Week)

This article amuses me on three levels:

• Never in my entire professional career have I ever heard of a successful Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) project. Somehow they remain in business. Frankly, because they keep their headquarters offshore, I think they should be barred from Federal contracting.
• Accenture used to be famous for glossy four color client deliverables that said nothing but killed reams of paper.
• This quote from the article, Accenture failed to deliver substantial documentation in support of the system’s detailed design review. The company also did not comply with cost, schedule and performance baselines and risk assessments for the next phase of the program, Landis said.