Write Stripes

If I were looking for a technical writer I would want someone who is able to follow formats, etc. but is also good at communication (of course). I want someone who is articulate and specific, and who thinks well on their feet. Because in ten years I will be a successful chemist (knock on wood) I would like a writer who has an understanding of the work I am doing, a person with a background in chemistry. Science is a field filled with ethical questions, and the person I would want to hire should always consider these questions. I want a writer with a good attitude of course. Finally, to be a good technical writer, one must be able to fully communicate a message to others.

Well lets see... 10 years from now... professional in my field... and I need a full-time technical communicator. I can't say that I know what I needs this technical communicator for, so I really have no basis for what to look for in one. But I suppose I would, of course, need someone that is able to communicate clearly and precisely in various forms of communication. This person should be articulate and pithy in all aspects. Other than that I don't really know what I would require of them, its hard to say without really knowing what you're looking for. I would just be overjoyed at the idea of laying the burden on someone else. Oh, and they would also have very efficient, and get the work done without bothering me with trivial questions.

Since I've worked with my dad's "technical writer" or his secretary, I have seen a few things that I would want this person to have when its my turn. First, I would want someone who was of course proficient in wordprocessing and typing and all that fun stuff. I would also want them to be able to do legal documents. I would also like this person to be able to proofread my work, not just like for mistakes in spelling and stuff like that, but also be able to word things professionally and change styles for different audiences without me having to tell them specifically what to do. Of course, I would want someone who is motivated and has a good work ethic. I definately don't want a person who will be gossiping or easily distracted by other workers. When I give it to them I want it done ASAP. I also wouldnt' want to have to remind this person all the time that I need things done. So memory and motivation I guess would be important factors. Lastly, I would want a person who is professional. This means dressing appropriately, being on time, keeping personal life out of the office and other stuff like that. Otherwise, the person just gets too distracted and it is easy to fall behind on work. Basicaly, I want someone who is qualified to communicate with me, other professionals, and clients in a way that reflects well on my and my law firm.

I would someone with a large vocabulary so that they could make what I said sound even better. I would want someone who was proficient in all aspects of wordprocessing and presentations as well as web page construction. They would have to be a people person as well and they would have to be a hard worker, not just because they had to be but because they wanted to be. I want a self-motivated person who when I say I need something by friday has it done on thursday, because that is the type of person that I am. But I don't want someone who will show me up, cause hey I've been at this job for ten years I don't want some new college grad taking over my position. I would also want someone who has high ethical standards, i would not want someone who would try and pass off someone else's work as their own. Ohhh and if he was really hot that wouldnt' be too bad either :) (j/k).

My criteria for a technical communicator would include:

- Excellent communication skills, both oral and written. They should be able to communicate clearly and persuasively, be able to adapt to different target audiences, possess a wide vocabularly, and demonstrate flawless grammar and spelling. Most importantly, however, they should be able to take "technical" data and present it in a way that can be grasped by non-professionals in the field. This would be especially important to me in public accounting, as I will often have to deal with clients who don't understand the technical aspects of accounting regulations, but who will need to understand the basics of what I am doing for them.

- Strong ethics. This is much more difficult to ascertain, of course, but I would want someone who, through past experience, proved themselves to be a responsible and trustworthy person. This could be demonstrated through past success in sensitive positions at other companies (for instance, I would prefer not to hear "oh, we fired her for stealing from petty cash" when I call the last employer). It could also be indicated through intangibles, such as good eye contact, punctuality, etc., though I would naturally place far less emphasis on those indicators.

- A positive attitude. When it comes to teamwork and working with clients, a positive, go-getter attitude is a definite asset. No one wants to work with a "oh golly gee, it just can't be done!" type of person (ok, stop laughing at my outdated cuss words!!). To me, a positive attitude means someone who takes initiative to get the job done and who does their job with energy and enthusiasm.

Simply put, a good technical communicator is someone who can take complicated data and present it in a way that effectively targets a particular audience and occasion.

P.S. Good luck on finals, everyone! It's been fun. Have a wonderful Christmas break. =) Beth, Brandon, and Jessica, thanks for everything... it's been great working with you all this semester!

Thanksgiving blog-
I am truly thankful for where I am today. I appreciate the chance I've been given to attend college, graduate and get a job doing what I like to do. After taking a few years off from school I realized how important a college education is. It's not just about making money, it;s also about having the opprtunity to do what you like and possibly make a difference in the world. I'm not sayin you need to graduate from college to do these things just that it opens more doors and makes it easier to accomplish personal goals.

Hmmmm...

I suppose if I ever had enough money four years after graduating vet school to hire someone just to do my technical writing, I'd be in a pretty good position. First of all I'd have to get someone who could put up with me, and whom I could stand being around. I think I would give this person a title...they would be my "secretary." They would need to understand veterinary terminology and pharmaceutical jargon, and be able to translate it and convey it clearly to clients. I guess they would need to like animals, of course, but other than that, I don't know what they could do. I suppose they could send out the little cards reminding people that their dogs need rabies shots. Probably the most important thing would be that they could explain things to people on all levels, because if I work in a rural area there is no telling who I might run into. Because the most important thing about being a good technical writer is that people understand what you are trying to say.

Have a wonderful break everyone...don't forget to vote.

Okay what would I look for in a good technical writer? First, I would look for someone who is knowledgable of the technical writing within my specific field. This is important because, as we all know there are some basic similarities among all technical writers but for the field for health communication I would want my technical writer to have the proper experience in order to adapt my expectations. Other, characteristics of my technical writer are proficiency in proper formats, the ability to concisely report major relevant details, and most importantly I would have a technical writer who has experience in web design and possibly other formats of media such as PSA development. My technical writer would need to have some experience with marketing to different target audiences. He/she should know the proper ways to market to a target audience and know how to appeal to the needs and interests of that audience. Since technical writing does require the occasional manipulation of information or rather the inclusion of some information rather than others my technical writer needs to have the ethical skills to determine how to present this type of information the best way. I really wouldn't consider the candidate's outlook or attitude just as long as it doesn't interfere the working environment. For the most part the attitude or outlook should be positive about the type of work that they are doing because I know it can get very aggravating at times. My technical communicator will be responsible for this as simple as a memo and as complex as taking research that I have given him/her and put it into a format that will be best understood by the audience. This may require formal reports or proposals or even the design of a web page.

To be a good technical communicator is it important to be able to adapt to different situations and use a basic set of skills that can be applied to different situations. Good technical communicators probably take time to develop and cannot not be produced overnight. Since the field of technical communication changes often adaptation is the most important part of a good technical communicator. Also a good technical writer should ask questions and make sure that they are doing what is required.

****It's been a interesting semester*****

Kristian Gordon

This assumes i'll have a professionalesque job in ten years, which is a bit of a stretch, but since we're pretending:

I'd look for someone who's a better writer than myself, and someone familiar with what the final product is supposed to look like. I'd want someone who'll work enough to get the writing up to par, and who won't hate me too much if i throw a pile of rough drafts on their desk* and head out the door before noon. They'd need to know what documents to shred and when, as well as when to use "effect" as opposed to "affect", which is something i still struggle with. Basically, if they can take my rough writeup of a lab and proofread and revise the simple mistakes such as spelling, i think they're doing a great job.



*Of course by "desk" i mean "lap". You don't really think i'd give them a desk, do you? :)


Enjoyed the class. Have fun

~tripp

I got blilnd sided by this question just a little while ago so....I thought I would through it out there and let you guys take a stab at how to answer this one. (btw, I am not quick on my feet so I looked just dumb for not having an answer to this)

What adjective would you use to best describe yourself and why? ( see how the english stuff jumps up and stabs me again)

also, I thought I would throw this one out because I think it has alot of really good potential for giving you an opportunity to stand out in an interview.

Why did you chose as your field of study?

For this one, everyone wants to work at a job they are going to enjoy and where they can make a lot of money. The thing about this one is, that if you have a really creative answer that makes the interviewer sit back and think, you can gain all kinds of brownie points


On another note, the Thanksgiving post. I had more things to do for the break than I had time to do them in. Reading back through all of the posts, I was thinking that it was very interesting that when prompted to tell about the things that you are thankful for, I believe everyone in class pointed out people that they were thankful for, and a puppy. So in a small twist and with not much explanation at all I wanted to say that this year for Thanksgiving, I am most thankful just for being alive.

# posted by Anonymous @ 11:25 AM

First of all, I am thankful that the blogger is working, unlike the other day when I tried to get on here. Wow, there is so much I am thankful for! I was very thankful for the break, which gave me the opportunity to spend time with my family, rest, and catch up on school work before exams. And as my mom always reminds me, I am thankful to be an overall healthy person. I am thankful for friends and family who will support me no matter what, for the opportunity to go to college and pursue the “American Dream” in whatever way I choose. I am thankful that after 4.5 years at Clemson (including one semester abroad in Italy) I have truly found my niche here. I am thankful that I am about to graduate, and that I will have the opportunity to pursue my education even further. I am thankful to be a woman living now, rather than in the past when women had few rights at all. I am thankful to be living the United States, and that I don’t have to worry about food, clothing, or other basic necessities that many people lack. And as much as today is not the best of weather, I am thankful to be in SC weather rather than be in VT right now.

Oh yeah, I like the new format of the blog as well!

Last Blog Questions about a technical writer:

What do you look for?
I would look for someone with whom I could get along well with so that it would be easy to communicate to them what I wanted them to do for me. Most importantly, I would want them to be knowledgeable in my field.
Ideal skill/ethical requirements…
Although it is not always possible to know if someone is ethical, I would prefer to have an ethical technical writer for me. And when I say ethical, I am not concerned what they do in their own time, but I would want them to carry forth ethics to the work place. For example, I wouldn’t want someone who would be unprofessional or who would plagiarize.
What does a technical communicator need to be able to do?
A technical communicator needs to be able to organize, research, and translate a wide array of information into a technical document that is easy to understand. In addition, this person must be knowledgeable in my field so that way they know how and what to research, and they could also pick out flaws or errors. Finally, they should have good grammatical schools and be skilled with the English language.
What does it mean to be a good technical writer?
I think that a good technical writer is clearly able to convey accurate and credible information in a manner that really draws in the audience he/she is targeting.

-Ashley

WOW.... I don't know about anyone else in the class, but all of the writing that I have done and all of the writing that I am doing has all been an extremely miserable experience for me. I really hate the whole idea of putting words on paper for other people to see. I am sure alot of that has to do with my own insecurities, but it is still there. As you may have already notice, I am not very good with words. I like pictures. If I can't draw something, then I can't understand it. Unfortunately, about 90% of english falls into that category. SO...... If after 10 years of doing my own writing I was given the opportunity to hire someone to do it for me, I would have to say that I would look mostly for someone who actually likes to do this sort of thing, at least moderately speaking. I would want someone who has a good vocabulary and knows the kinds of words that make documents easy to read yet very understandable. I would also look for someone who can effectively communicate all of the pertinent information in a very clear and concise manner. I see these two things as being equivalent. As far as ethics go, I am pretty loose with the whole ethics area, all I ask is that people take pride in their job and strive to do it the very best that it can possibly be done. For me, it is well worth it to sacrifice minute amounts of time in order to produce quality products. Hence the reason my whole job search has been centered on looking for a job that does not have deadlines that I will have to meet. I guess this is what I think makes a good technical writer. Ironic that my ideal technical writer excels at all of the tasks that I fail miserably at?

I am not done posting yet, so unfortunately you will hear more from me very shortly

Alright, here goes the last blog of the semester. So I guess my ideal technical writer would first have to have the skills necessary for technical writing (I'm assuming literacy is a given). These skills include the ability to write effectively so that the reader will be able to take an action or make a decision, the ability to write for a specific audience, and the ability to make information accessible. Also, since this person would be doing technical writing for me, he or she would need to be able to work and communicate effectively with me. I'm not real sure what kind of ethical requirements there would be, because, if you think about it, the writing done is still supposed to be from me so the reader or audience would have to understand my ethics as a basis for trusting the writing. I guess though I would have to trust whoever I hired to convey my own ethics in the work he or she produces. I guess a positive outlook would be my last requirement for a technical writer -- not neccessarily because I want this characteristic to come out in the writing, rather its just that working with a positive person would be a much more enjoyable experience than working with a pessimist. An attitude can rub off on people and seriously affect working conditions either for better or for worse.
For the last part of the blog, a technical communicator must be able to do what every other writer in the world strives to do: communicate the desired information in a way that suits his audience and enhances their understanding of the subject. In the case of technical writing it is hoped that this understanding will enable the audience to take some action or make a decision. A good technical writer will do just that -- they will enable or inspire an audience. That being said, a good technical writer does not seem very different from a good writer of any kind. It all boils down to effectively ommunicating an idea or information -- the difference lies mainly with the style in which it is done.
Well thats about it for me, its been fun sharing with all of you (especially when there were disagreements, HAHA) and I hope you have a great holiday!

Picture yourself 10 years from now. You are an up-and-coming professional in your chosen field. Lo and behold, you have need of a full-time technical communicator. "Ha!" you think, "I no longer have to do my own technical writing! I shall hire someone else to do it for me!" (Note: All this time up *until* now you've had to do it yourself so this class hasn't been wasted.)
What do you look for? This will be your last blog entry, so make it a good one and describe your ideal technical writing candidate including skills needed, ethical requirements (or other criteria that may be more important) and even things like outlook or attitude. What do you need a technical communicator to be able to do? What does it mean, finally, to be a good technical writer?

(And I'm glad people like the new format. I think I like it better too.)

Try to have this last entry done by Friday Evening. I'll probably start evaluating blog entries sometime during the weekend.

Ok, so it's not that I'm not thankful for things, I just didn't have internet over the break, so here goes. I'm thankful for alot of things in my life, but over thanksgiving I was especially thankful that I have such great friends and family in Knoxville. I have so many great friends here, but its always nice to go home to the people you grew up with and know everything about you. It was cool to go home and relax with them before all the stress of finals. I'm also thankful for our new great dane puppy Allie. Sounds silly, but she's so cute and having her in the house has not only made my other great dane happier and more playful, but she has brought alot of energy back into the house for my parents as well. She makes my parents happy and that makes me happy. So, that is what I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving break.

I like the new format. It's much easier to go through and read the blogs. The new format provides more separation.

I am most thankful for my family. My family has supported me 200% in the decisions I have made. I always know that if I need something that they are going to do whatever they have to satisfy that need. My family have counseled me in the new experiences that I have encountered as a young adult entering the "real world." I have learned that some people do not appreciate their family for one reason or another. I am just thankful that I have these feelings for my family.

1. What is the difference in "being" and "performing"? Matt says we shouldn't gauge citizenship by actions. What are the alternatives?

The difference in being and performing is that being requires no action while performing does require some action. For example one can say I am an informed citizen while another would say I am an informed citizen because I attend town meetings, etc.

2. How do you reconcile the inequities that exist (both in America and in the world) with "The American Dream" and our relatively recent assertion that "all men [sic] are created equal?

My thoughts are that these inequities will always exist in some capacity. We can only hope that as time goes on these issues dissolve away.

3. How do these questions (and the answers thereto) affect the reality of job searching?

I think these answers remind us that these inequities do exist and that some of us do in fact have to try harder to or maybe not hard at all to get a job. Issues that arise are not hiring minorities for different reasons or hiring minorities just to meet some kind of quota or something.

I know that this is a little late but I am still thankful for this so I will still post it. I am thankful for my little sister Olivia. She is nine months old and she is really cute. My parents are much happier because she is around and it helps my mom get over the fact that both me and my other sister have gone off to college. That is a relief. I am also thankful for the opportunities I have had because I have had many great opportunities. I am also grateful for my family for making me take the opportunities I would not have taken.

The new format is great...I can tell where one blog ends and another begins! :)

Dr Fishman- I think you worry too much about the format, i didn't know my comment would get your attention. :) I think this blog is, and always has been, an excellent medium of communication. It simply takes me a while to find my way around or get comfortable.