Learning From Your Past  

To better predict your staffing and schedule needs on future projects, you should keep a record of what you've done in the past. This paper presents a template for one way to formalize such records to ensure consistent reporting and to provide statistics in a way that is meaningful for future estimates. The workshop will present case studies to help you understand how to use the data in this report to estimate and schedule your next project.

Stevens, Dawn M. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Management>Case Studies

Learning How to Read an Interviewer's Mind

Have you ever wondered what was going on in the mind of someone interviewing you for a job? Did you wish you could have had a 'cheat sheet' to prepare for the kinds of questions she might ask? Thanks to Lori Lathrop, a freelance indexer of technical manuals, we have a 'Cliffs’ Notes' for job interviews. Lori Lathrop is the principal of Lathrop Media Services. Her experience includes more than sixteen years as a technical writer, editor, and professional indexer.

Davis, Julie. Carolina Communique (1997). Careers>Interviewing

Leaving Copyediting for Computing

A copyeditor for a computer publication wants to change careers. She's thinking of taking a few computer language courses with an eye toward moving into UNIX system administration -- a wide-open field. As someone who has changed careers once or twice, I'll offer a coaching session.

Zuchero, John. Editorial Eye, The (2003). Careers>Editing>Programming

Lessons Learned After Two Years (Almost) in the Self-Employment Trenches  

Taking the plunge into self-employment in the field of marketing and technical communications is a major step to contemplate. The many factors that one takes for granted when working in a corporate environment become problematic when one goes out 'on one’s own.' On the other hand, staying in a boring, less than challenging, or limited job largely because of the security it carries might be called 'sure-a-cide.' In making the transition to self-employment, it is necessary to pay close attention to a number of issues, but these issues may not be obvious at the beginning. On the other hand, many concerns that might otherwise appear to be essential to this transition may basically take care of themselves and can be lowered in priority. The 'trick' is figuring which is which.

Teich, Thea. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Freelance

Lessons Learned After Two Years in the Self-Employment Trenches

The advantages of staying in the same profession as when you we employed in a standard way: you already know the job; no need for immediate additional training; you probably have a good idea about procedures, costs, processes.

Teich, Thea. STC Orange County (1998). Careers>Freelance

Lessons Learned the Hard Way in an Architectural Document Disaster  

Delivering project reports in radically different formats gave the client a bad impression of this consulting firm. Here's how the staff remedied the situation and learned from their mistake.

Kalvar, Shannon T. TechRepublic (2003). Careers>Consulting>Project Management>Reports

Lessons of Survivor Literature in Communicating Decisions to Downsize    

Many companies have entered a new era of human resources management–one based on transaction cost economics and one in which downsizing has become a permanent part of the corporate landscape. But their insistence on communicating decisions to downsize solely in economic terms is creating serious problems among employees who survive the layoffs. Disloyalty, disaffection, increased absenteeism, and even acts of sabotage are growing among workers who view downsizing as a social, not economic, issue. This article discusses the new era of human resources management and reviews survivor literature in an effort to provide guidance to companies about how to communicate downsizing, specifically, and how to communicate with the postdownsized workforce, generally.

Guiniven, John E. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2001). Careers>Unemployment>Workplace

The Library Brand

It's likely that few professionals worry more about how their services are perceived than librarians. Lawyers may have more reason for concern, but many of them laugh all the way to the bank. We have little if not our reputation. So the new report published by OCLC, '€œPerceptions of Libraries and Information Resources,' deserves notice. Do libraries still matter? On what level? Will library use likely increase or decrease?--generated heartwarming comments but also much to cause concern.

Tennant, Roy. Library Journal (2006). Careers>Information Design>Databases

Life Beyond Computer Documentation  

In this paper we explore the title statement by examining some of the places in an industrial, business or educational organization where a technical communicator might reside as well as some of the numerous roles the communicator might play and the kinds of products the communicator might produce. The paper is intended to help young communicators see more clearly that their job need not be limited to the routine, the mundane, and the terminally boring, and to encourage them to see that the field of technical communication is far broader that just the production of computer documentation.

Wise, Daniel E. STC Proceedings (2002). Careers>TC>Documentation

Listen, Observe, Speak

When you are a speaker, you communicate. When you are the audience, you communicate. As a member of the development team, the technical writer has to deal with hundreds of intelligent egos. There are the programmers who think only about solutions and technology (not about people and their emotions). A technical writer would definitely feel hurt, when developers talk down to him. Managers on the other hand are likely to have oodles of people skills and may not have technical skills. Therefore, they may talk nicely to you. Nevertheless, a technical writer may feel that managers do not appreciate his technical skills.

Kamath, Gurudutt R. IT People (2002). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing>Workplace

Listen, the Numbers are Singing

Among the constant chattering noise that these numbers are making, they also sing some common tunes.

Naik, Paresh. Indus (2005). Careers>Salaries>Regional>India

Living in Cubeville

Someone told me recently that business owners favor cubicles because they are less expensive to build than walls; they are easy to break down and rearrange; and they depreciate in seven years, as opposed to walls, which depreciate in thirty years. In short, our 'cubes' are cost efficient, and they're probably here to stay. How, then, are we to deal with the obstacles that they present? We don't have enough space to spread out our documents. We go crazy trying to tune out the conversation taking place in the cubicle next door. Few cubicles have doors, and people tend to view our open entranceways as open invitations to stop by and chat. Last, but not least, cubicles sometimes feel like hamster cages, causing us to feel more like 'a number' than a human being. There is no way to make it nice; but there are ways to make it better. Here are some ways to cope.

Shuman, Ceil. Carolina Communique (1998). Careers>Workplace

Living to Work or Working to Live?  

When your life is out of balance, make a separation between your job and your work. Your job is what you're paid to do; your work fulfills your life's purpose. You can discover your work by paying close attention to the things that attract and motivate you. While you search, use your job to build up 'Working Capital' to support your work. Working Capital is created by using good money management and investing skills.

Stahlman, Gretchen. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Advice

Living with Terror: Empowering Ourselves in a Time of Stress

Advice about managing stress in the workplace.

Ziff, Joel D. Usability Professionals Association (2002). Careers>Workplace>Usability

LOA 101: Intro to Letters of Agreement  

Answers some common questions about Letters of Agreement, documents used by independent contractors to define the specifics of particular projects.

Frick, Elizabeth A. 'Betsy'. Intercom (2002). Careers>Freelance>Contracts

The Lone Writer  

A discussion of the issues for a lone technical writer employed in an organization.

Alroy, Faye. Intercom (2003). Careers>TC

Look Outside Conventional Techniques to Manage 'Geeks'  

Traditional approaches to management won't work with knowledge workers, who are brilliant yet notoriously resistant to being managed.

Bowers, Toni. TechRepublic (2003). Careers>Management>Collaboration

Looking for Work as a Scientific Communicator?

Many technical writers recently found themselves looking for work in the wake of September 11th and the dotcom meltdown.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Writing World (2002). Careers>Scientific Communication

Make Yourself More Than Just an "Entry-Level" Tech Writer

To make the most of limited opportunities, you have to distinguish yourself from the crowd of other technical writers who'll be vying for the same positions you're after. In other words, you have to go into that job market armed with more than just a bachelor's degree and some classroom writing samples. Following are some suggestions that can help you acquire some professional technical writing experience, broaden your skills and knowledge of the technical writing field, and get you over the entry-level hump.

Monahan, Jim. Boston Broadside (1991). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing

Making a Big Business out of Technical Writing  

Leveraging on the success of my business, DocuStar, this paper describes some of the strategies I have used to grow my one-person freelance gig into a business employing over 65 employees on our own premises and servicing over 200 hi-tech companies per year. While the profit margin may not match that of the up-and-coming dotcoms, the needs of the market foretell a solid and ever-growing future within the technical documentation niche. With a strong commitment to hard work, an adventurous excitement for conquest and a paramount and obsessive commitment to quality and integrity, technical writing can certainly be grown into a big business venture.

Sher, Barbara J. STC Proceedings (2001). Careers>Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Making a Big Business Out of Technical Writing  

Leveraging on the success of my business, DocuStar, this paper describes some of the strategies I have used to grow my one-person freelance gig into a business employing over 65 employees on our own premises and servicing over 200 hi-tech companies per year. While the profit margin may not match that of the up-and-coming dotcoms, the needs of the market foretell a solid and ever-growing future within the technical documentation niche. With a strong commitment to hard work, an adventurous excitement for conquest and a paramount and obsessive commitment to quality and integrity, technical writing can certainly be grown into a big business venture.

Sher, Barbara J. STC Proceedings (2001). Careers>Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Making and Breaking Rules: A Manager's Viewpoint    

Contends that 'does it help communication?' is the ultimate question to ask in deciding whether to follow, bend, or break rules. States that managers need to help their staff members develop sound judgment and make defensible choices.

Zook, Lola M. Technical Communication Online (2003). Careers>Management

The Making of a Discipline: The Making of a Title

Many people who work within the design field have had a hard time assimilating the full scope of Experience Design—and a harder time accepting their niches within it. The reasons for this resistance uncover much about the state of design as well as the state of identity.

Shedroff, Nathan. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Careers>Usability>User Centered Design

Making Professional Development Work for You  

Obtaining a degree and entering the workforce is not the end of the educational experience; it is the beginning of the Life-long process of professional development. Professional development benefits employees by helping them to progress and increase their worth to the company, and it benefits management by poviding them with more skilled and knowledgeable employees, Many opportunities are available to communicators, such as professional societies, conferences, seminars, books, and journals. Communicators, then, must seek out the opportunities, devise a professional develop-merit plan, overcome the obstacles, and then implement what they have learned.

O'Brien, Charles J. III and Russell B. Stoner. STC Proceedings (1993). Careers>Education>Continuing

Making the Grade: Managers' Tips for Performing Staff Evaluations

Evaluations should be used to take a look at the overall picture, to review where an employee has been in terms of professional development, and to get an idea of where he or she is headed. By doing that, you can provide your staff with valuable advice and guidance. They will be able to grow, both professionally and personally, and you will have a much more effective member of your team. Carrying out an evaluation properly is not easy. Here are a few tips on how to get the most out of the experience.

Holland, Anton. Writer's Block (1995). Careers>Management>Writing