A Career in Technical Writing: A strange new world
July 9, 2008 by J.C. Hewitt
Bullet points
- Companies that hire contract technical writers are often in disarray
- Many companies don’t know quite what they want and they don’t know what you need to do your job
- Technical writing and research go hand-in-hand
- It is always nice to know who your audience is
A not quite new building
My first day of work was not the first time I had been to the PHPS building. When I had worked as an associate lobbyist, I had sat in the office of the PHPS CEO and rattled off a list of bills coming up in the next legislative session. I had shaken the CEO’s hand and made small talk about the UA basketball team. PHPS had been one of the firm’s largest clients. Two years had passed since then and my run as a lobbyist had come to an end. I wasn’t meeting with the CEO this time. My place was in the IT department, and my main contact was the lead programmer.
Who hired me?
It turned out that the lead programmer, the guy I had interviewed with over the phone, was a contractor. I was a contractor hired on the word of a contractor. In fact, most of the programming staff was employed by the same agency as I was. My manager was a well-dressed blond executive who shook my hand towards the end of the day and didn’t come by again for two months. The organization was “flat”. That meant the manager was in charge of over seventy people. He set me up with a computer and a cubicle and headed off into the sunset. I get the feeling he wasn’t even sure why I was there.
Undocumented workers
The lead programmer, Clem, gave me a basic rundown of what they needed. The program they used to track medical records was called AMISYS. AMISYS had several stock reports that it generated, but the company had decided that they needed custom reports — a lot of custom reports. To create these, they used a programming language called Speedware. When I started at the company they had already created 160 custom reports. The problem was that they were completely undocumented. No one had bothered to record what each report reported on, how to generate the report, or even who requested the program. There were just 160 report programs out there flapping in the breeze. It was my job to figure out what these programs did and document how to use them.
You can’t always get what you want
The challenge didn’t stop there. To add a level of difficulty, I was not allowed to actually run the reports. Running the reports might alter the data (or so they said). Altering the data would be bad, so running the reports was verboten. In the end, I could do four things. I could go through the screens and do everything but run the report. I could read through the Speedware code, which would give me the variables and the report headers. I could also try to get my hands on reports that had already been run. The remaining option was to ask people questions and play the role of a detective. That last option was the scariest one for me. Digging through data was my strong suit. Calling strangers was not.
Before I did any of that though, I needed to figure out what I was going to write and who I was going to write it for. Was I there to write for the programmers or the end users? Was I writing a reference or a manual? No one really had a plan for me. They just assumed I would take care of things. They gave me my tools, a P75 computer with Windows 3.1, Microsoft Word and a bootleg copy of PageMaker. The rest was up to me…
Further reading
- 14 Widespread Myths about Technical Writing by Tom Johnson: Not all of these “myths” are false in my opinion. My tools knowledge has gotten me more than one job, for example, but this is a good introduction to what people think technical writers do.
- The Sinking Ship is in Beta by John Hewitt: An article about some of the things that can go wrong on a project.
Questions
- What are the first steps you take when you start a new project?
- Do you thrive in situations that call for improvisation or do you need structure?
- What do you do to feel comfortable at a new job?
Related links
- A Career in Technical Writing: The beginning of a new series (0.500)
- A Career in Technical Writing: Life as a wannabee (0.500)
- A Career in Technical Writing: Two dates to the prom (0.500)
- A Career in Technical Writing: The fax about outsourcing (0.500)
- A Career in Technical Writing: Life as a newbie (0.500)
Sounds like a perfect job, messy but fun
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John,
Though writing documentation for reports doesn’t sound very appealing to me, your advice on knowing who you’re writing for applies to any kind of writing.
I enjoyed the tech writing I did for a well known teleco since we had a great process in place and templates to follow. The work was great. Haven’t done much tech writing as a freelancer — but many software products (web-based apps too) need it.
While you should design software to be intuitive, there will always be questions and documentation supports that.
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Oh, I have to disagree with Magnus. Your scenario does not appeal to me at all, although I’ve experienced something similar. Once upon a time I was hired as a program evaluator, and my first few days at work I had no phone, no internet connection, and old, funky furniture. My “supervisor” didn’t take the time to introduce me to key people. For some people, this would have been a dream job. No one looking over your shoulder. No one telling you what to do. And if I had ever worked as a program evaluator, then perhaps I would have enjoyed it more. But I knew that I had to be accountable … I had to show something for the salary I was getting.
I took advantage of every training opportunity that came my way and eventually learned that I was an “internal program evaluator” which put a different spin on my ability to be objective. It was very uncomfortable and too political, and when I had a chance to move on, I did.
I like being creative, but if someone is going to have expectations of me, then I need structure. I need the objectives, deadlines, and deliverables spelled out. But then, maybe that’s just the nature of the work I find myself in. Most of my recent working life has been on federal grants, and I’m used to knowing exactly what it is I’m expected to deliver. Now, if I can have some latitude in how I achieve those deliverables … that’s gravy.
Maybe I’m too much of an introvert because I can’t even answer your last question. I just recently changed jobs. My current employer was once my previous employer; i.e., I worked for one state agency for five years, moved to another state agency for almost three, and now I’m back at the original state agency. In fact, I’m back in the same section in the same bureau, where about half of the employees I knew three years ago are still around. I love the immediate sense of comfort I have going to work at a place with people that I already know (and already like). I love the familiarity and the ease with which I’m taking responsibility because I already know who to contact for what service.
John, your articles and questions are really helping me to understand my comfort level in *work* (that which I must do in order to keep feeding my cat and myself). Your questions would be great for anyone thinking about trying a career as a technical writer, or simply changing jobs.
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@ Magnus
Messy, yes. Cleaning up messes is one of a technical writer’s hidden duties.
@ Lillie
Very true. Audience analysis is a great tool. Of course, I wasn’t exactly using scientific analysis on my first gig. I was just guessing.
@ Meryl
I have been in organizations with strong processes. I’ll get to those in time.
@ Marie
One of the things that I have learned over the years is that every organization has its own unique set of weaknesses and quirks. Some day I might get to work for a company that has it all together, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t fit in at such a place anyway.
Improvisation vs structure — does it really matter?
If I am given a structure, there is always room to improvise within that structure should I wish to do so.
If I am not given a structure and it is understood that I am improvising, but I feel I need structure, I improvise a structure for myself, then follow it.
I don’t really feel hampered either way. I can always get by. There are options.
John,
Sounds like you were really on your own with that job. Hope everything went well. While I’ve always done fine without a great deal of supervision, I’ve also always appreciated a clear description of exactly what was expected of me in completing a particular task–and I’ve likewise always appreciated being given the proper tools to do the job. Seems as if you started out at somewhat of a disadvantage with that project.
Jeanne
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I am attracted to your bullet point. Wonder why they still hire people, for things that they aren’t really sure what is the purpose of hiring that person, job scope and all that. I mean really. It is just ridiculous. But seems like you cope quite well with it John.
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