Getting Corporate Approval

Shared Medical Systems Corporation (SMS) recently combined its 66-person technical writing group and six-person performance-centered design team to form a new department called User Performance. With more and more clinicians—often novice users—interacting with SMS systems, SMS recognized the need to place an increased focus on usability.

Drake, Frederic and Frances L. Fleek. Usability Interface (2000). Careers>Usability

Getting Hired: What Employers Really Want

We began to work on an event to gather professionals and employers to help us figure out what UX employers really want.

Sanchez-Howard, Olga. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Careers>Usability>User Experience

Getting into Government Consulting

From Washington, D.C. to Olympia, Washington, there's a rich potential for user experience consultants of all flavors to provide services to government. In this article I'll share some thoughts directed toward you, the independent consultant or small firm that would like to work with government.

McMullin, Jess. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Careers>Consulting>Government>User Experience

Getting Paid

As businesses struggle to stay in business, many are short–changing vendors or woefully delaying payment. Zeldman laments the difficulties of getting paid.

Zeldman, Jeffrey. List Apart, A (2002). Careers>Consulting>Web Design

Getting Professional Help: Why Contractors and Independent Consultants Need Lawyers    

This article begins with the premise that there is no such thing as a standard contract and goes on to explore some of the ways that the attorney/client relationship can have unexpected benefits for technical communication consultants and contractors. The conclusion is that these communicators should seek legal counsel to protect themselves and their businesses.

Glick-Smith, Judith L. 'Judy' and Carol Stephenson. Technical Communication Online (1998). Careers>Consulting>Legal

Getting Started in Technical Writing

This summary provides a collection of tips and advice for getting started in the technical writing profession. The following categories are included in this summary: Finding and Getting That First Job; Types of Technical Writing; Types of Technical Writers; Degrees and Technical Writing; Transferring to Technical Writing from Other Professions: From Journalism; From Teaching; From Academia; From Marketing; From Law; Essential Skills; On Being a Technical Writer.

TECHWR-L. Careers>Advice>Writing>Technical Writing

Getting This "Global Thing" Right…

CEOs overwhelmingly believe that revenue growth is their number one priority: four out of five CEOs (83%) now believe that revenue growth is the most important path to boosting financial performance over the next three years. And what do they see as the two key drivers for this growth? New and differentiated products and services (nearly two-thirds) and new markets (55%). Responsiveness is the new key competence, i.e., CEOs acknowledge that they need the ability to recognize, analyze and respond more effectively to continuously changing market conditions and risks. Reinstituting customer responsive organizations is high on their growth agenda.

Ray, Rebecca. LISA (2004). Careers>Management>International

Ghostwriting: Is It for You?

Ghostwriting has a lot to offer the young (or not-so-young) writer or editor with the right personality, professional skills, and appetite for variety and adventure. But it's not for everyone. You can make money, have fun, learn new things, and meet interesting people. You can also get horribly ripped off unless you know your value and how to use it. If you put someone else's name on your work or push someone else's favorite cause or ideas, do it so you come out a winner. Below are a few suggestions and observations gleaned the hard way.

Briskin, Dennis. Editorial Freelancers Association (1994). Careers>Freelance>Writing

Go Home! An Introduction to Virtual Officing  

The information and technology wave of the 1990s has brought with it a new way of working: virtual officing. A May 1991 survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 21.8 million nonagricultural home workers, including 20 million who worked at home for their primary job. When considering a virtual arrangement, you need to decide if you and your work are right for virtual officing. Once you decide to work virtually, you need to know how to present your idea to your employer or customer and how to arrange your work environment and schedule for optimum performance.

Wolfe Sharp, Flo. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Telecommuting

Going Beyond $1 a Word: Syndication

With the recent downturn in the economy, newsrooms, newspapers, magazine and Web outlets are letting staff writers go, and are looking for cheaper content alternatives. Buying content from syndicates is becoming more popular for these publishers. Watch for this trend to continue.

Price, Lisa. Communication Circle, The (2001). Careers>Freelance>Writing

Going Beyond $1 Per Word: Getting Paid on the Internet

Paying by the word comes from the print publishing world. Web editors have continued this model.

Price, Lisa. Communication Circle, The (2001). Careers>Freelance>Writing

Going Hollywood: Trends in the World of Work  

The 'Hollywood Model' is one of several work trends that have emerged to satisfy the needs of the changing U.S. workplace in the last couple of decades. This paper will: examine some of the forces that have precipitated change in the U.S. workplace; explore emerging work trends especially relevant to technical communicators; and recommend a small set of key skills that technical communicators will need to develop in order to thrive in the changing workplace.

Cheirrett, Peg A. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration

Going Solo  

These workshop notes list many of the things that you will need to consider if you intend to become a freelance technical communicator in the UK. The main topics are: your motivation; getting help with your business; legal and administrative issues; business infrastructure; working practices; advertising and publicity; office environment. The workshop was presented at the ISTC Conference, Bosworth, 2002.

Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2002). Careers>Freelance>Regional>United Kingdom

Good Communication Is More than Just Good Writing

Writers can be good at writing, but lousy at communicating verbally. These tips will help you communicate better with your clients—and instill clients with confidence in your real strengths.

Holland, Anton. Writer's Block (1996). Careers>Consulting>Communication

Good Opportunity for Technical Communication Service Providers

When I tried to look at the salary survey from the point of view of a Technical Communication Service Provider (TCSP), I noticed quite a few interesting points.

Pandit, Makarand M. Indus (2005). Careers>Consulting>Regional>India

The Grading System of the Real World

At the beginning of each semester, the instructor hands out a syllabus packet which often contains a course outline or schedule and an explanation of the grading policy. The work world has grading systems too, and you need to know about them in advance so you can prepare for Performance Reviews.

Perry, Lynellen D.S. ACM Crossroads (2001). Careers>Workplace>Assessment

Graphical Design in TCO: Video and Animation  

This report is intended to give an overview of graphical design in the technical communication field as it pertains to the areas of video and animation. The purpose of this report is to a) establish core knowledge areas, b) provide information to both students and professionals in TCO, c) demonstrate excellence in TCO at Mercer University, and d) help students decide on what internships and jobs they wish to pursue. This report includes a summary and background of the video and animation field, the methods by which the information was obtained, an organized presentation of the collected information, and a series of recommendations for those going into this field.

Davis, Marjorie T. and William H. Harris II. Mercer University (2002). Careers>Multimedia>Graphic Design

Great Mistakes in Technical Leadership

What follows is the abridged version of the list of mistakes I have assembled in this manner over the last thirteen years of watching Technical Leads get it wrong. It is my contention that if you can just avoid making these mistakes, you are well on your way to doing a good job as a Technical Lead.

Hacknot (2006). Careers>Project Management>Technology

Ground Floor Perspective on the Usability Job Hunt

This is a guest written article by Berna Tural, a recent college graduate from Carleton University in Ottawa. She is looking for a job in the usability field. I asked her to tell me more about her experiences so that WebWord readers would understand what it is like to be on the ground floor in usability. Similarly, I wanted people to see the other side of the hunt. 

Tural, Burna. WebWord (2001). Careers>Usability>Regional>Canada

Growing Your Job as a Technical Communicator: Guidelines for Getting In, Moving Up, and Staying Put  

Two seasoned technical communicators discuss the elements of 'growing their jobs,' using successes and lessons learned to offer practical suggestions for getting in, moving up, and staying put if the company downsizes.

Liebetrau, Suzanne F. and Sallie J. Ortiz. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>TC>Planning

Growing Your Practice by Managing Business Relationships  

Independent contractors and consultants know the value of working cooperatively with other professionals to complete complex projects. 'Other professionals' includes subcontractors, other independent contractors and consultants, and business partners. The formation of these kinds of strategic relationships can help meet the demands of today’s diverse markets and clients. This paper outlines some of the basic issues that surround business relationships, including planning (estimating and bidding), formalizing project-based contractual relationships, and exploring more permanent partnership arrangements.

Barker, Thomas, Ryan Bernard, Melanie G. Flanders, Rob Moschak and Nicole Wycislo. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Freelance>Consulting>Collaboration

Growth Prospects for a Technical Writer

Are there practical chances of growth and scope for learning/improving oneself while working as a technical writer?

Kamath, Gurudutt R. IT People (2004). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing>India