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:
Continue reading "3 Things Nobody will tell you about Remote Writing Projects" »
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.
Continue reading "Will Today's Economy Further Thin Out IT Contracting Firms?" »
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.
Continue reading "Five Things Technical Writers need to do at least Once" »
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.
Continue reading "Writing Samples for Technical Writers" »
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).
Continue reading "Kelly's Laws of Non-Disclosure Agreements" »
So you've outsourced your company's technical documentation to contractors and now you are facing a much tighter budget in 2009?
Continue reading "Recession Proofing your Company's Technical Documentation" »
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.
Continue reading "Leaving Technical Writing" »
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:
Continue reading "Observations from Putting my Resume Out There (Yet Again)" »
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.
Continue reading "Kelly's Laws of Wiki Implementation" »
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.
Continue reading "Technical Writer Job Postings as a Source of Amusement" »
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...
Continue reading "Return of the Stupid Recruiter Files" »
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.
Continue reading "Debunking the Myth of India as a Technology and Economic Powerhouse" »
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?
Continue reading "Odd Technical Writer Resume on Craigslist" »
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.
Continue reading "Setting your Project Documentation up to Fail" »
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.
Continue reading "How ambiguity killed the technical writer" »
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