Writing and Editing Jobs — 10/23/2009
October 23, 2009 by J.C. Hewitt · Leave a Comment
- Copywriter — Baltimore, MD
- Copywriter — Getty Images – New York, NY
- Copywriter — VML, Inc. – Seattle, WA
- Copywriter — BCBG Max Azria – Los Angeles, CA
- Copywriter — Venetian Resort Hotel-Casino – Las Vegas, NV
- Editor — Village Voice Media – Orange County, CA
- Assistant Editor — University of California, Davis – Davis, CA
- Editor — Synectics Inc. – Chicago, IL
- Lifestyle Editor — Mattel – Middleton, WI
- Fitness & Nutrition Writers — livestrong.com
- Senior Writer/Editor — Family Life Communications – Tucson, AZ
- Proposal Writer- Freelance – Sharp Decisions – New York, NY
- Freelance Technical Writers – globalfreeelancers – New York, NY
- Science Writer — University of Arizona – Tucson, AZ
- Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (Fiction) — Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
- Program Coordinator, Poetry Paths — Franklin & Marshall College , Lancaster, PA
- Visiting Position in Poetry — St. Lawrence University, English – Canton, NY
- Web Writer/Editor — ESRI – Redlands, CA
- Web Editor — Harvard University – Boston, MA
- Web Editor — Wellesley College – Wellesley Hills, MA
- Proofreader — TBWA World Wide – New York, NY
- Proofreaders — Progressive Information Technologies – Emigsville, PA
- Freelance Proofreader — Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. – Hauppauge, NY
- Technical Writer – AMEC – Westford, MA
- Technical Writer — Northrop Grumman – New Carrollton, MD
- Technical Writer — Life Cycle Engineering – Philadelphia, PA
- Technical Writer – Royal Offering Inc – Atlanta, GA
- Technical Writer – Forest Laboratories, Inc. – Commack, NY
- Reporter/Multi Media Journalist — EW Scripps – Kansas City, Missouri
- Reporter — The Hollister Free Lance – Hollister, CA
- Consumer Reporter — Tribune – Hartford, CT
- Technical Editor — Paxus – Australia
- Technical Writer – Open Text Corp. – Ottawa, ON
- Technical Writer (m/w) — wunderloop Media Services GmbH – Hamburg
- Editor / Sub Editor / Feature Writer — Client of Boss & Peers Consultants – Bangalore, KA
- Copy Editor – Brickwork India – Bangalore, KA
A Technical Writer Assignment Using FrameMaker and FrameScript
December 28, 2004 by J.C. Hewitt · Leave a Comment
Same Technical Writer, Same Company, New Boss
As expected, I wrapped up the PDF and Acrobat branding updates well ahead of schedule. While it is good for your reputation to finish early, it is not necessarily good for your bank account. The two people who hired me did not have another assignment for me. Luckily, I had made friends with a technical writer whose team badly needed another person. Because of this, I managed to stay in the same company, but I switched bosses.
The manager of the new department works in another city. I have only spoken to the man once. For all my daily activities, the writer I made friends with is my supervisor. In fact, due to company rules, he had to take a class in how to manage a contractor. This company has many rules about what contractors can and cannot do, and he is responsible for making sure I do not cross any lines.
Switching bosses within the same company is not an entirely smooth process. On the day of the crossover, I showed up to work and discovered my badge and my email deactivated. It took most of the day to get security to reactivate my accounts.
FrameMaker and FrameScript
My first project under the new supervisor was similar to my last project, but with an increased level of complexity. Once again, a set of established documentation was going through a branding update. This time, however, the changes were more far-reaching. Because of the branding update, dozens of product names were changing. In addition, the documents I would work on were all written with FrameMaker, and many of the changes were contained in variables rather than regular text.
My supervisor decided that he needed to take advantage of this change and implement a standard set of variables across the platform. This meant that I did not just need to look for incorrect brand identifications; I also needed to change many variables that contained the right information, but an outdated variable name.
FrameMaker and FrameScript
One tool that made this project easier was a third-party scripting program for FrameMaker. This program, aptly named FrameScript, allowed us to automate many of the variable changes. Still, most of the work required me to search for the outdated variables and replace them within the documents. I also needed to search for any outdated text or graphic references.
Technical Writing Procedure
One of the nice things about this project was that my supervisor had started it, and he had taken the time to write a procedure for doing the work. This gave me a leg up on the process, even though I eventually started making minor modifications to the procedure as I began to find easier ways to handle the job. One of the advantages of working with technical writers is that they will often write down what they are doing for future reference.
Updating Technical Documents
Updating documents provides a major portion of the work available to technical writers. While it is more fun (and more challenging) to write a set of documents from scratch, the truth is that there are not very many new products coming out, especially in the computer industry. Far more often, a product is an update of something that has already been developed.
Additional Resources
- FrameMaker Scripting Automation and Customization
- FrameScript: A crash course
- Tech Writing Careers — The Raw, Unvarnished Truth
First Day of a Technical Writing Contract
December 18, 2004 by J.C. Hewitt · Leave a Comment
Technical Writing Contract
Rule number one for a contractor is to never panic about what happens your first day. First days are naturally chaotic, and often companies are not fully prepared for you. Because contractors are usually brought in to solve a particular problem, the people are anxious to get you started, but companies, especially large ones, are not geared for quick action.
My first day starts at 5:45 in the morning. This is when I arrive to begin NCO (New Contractor Orientation). Most companies I’ve worked for don’t have anything like this, but this company is obsessed with safety. Every contractor who starts with the company must sit through at least the first part of the safety lectures and videos. Because I am working in an office and I do not work with hazardous chemicals (Except white-out and toner) I only have to attend until 10:00. Factory workers and clean room workers attend afternoon sessions as well.
The instructor for these safety lessons is a former naval officer who taught helicopter pilots how to survive a dunking, which is when a helicopter flips over upside-down into the ocean or other deep water. He speaks in the loud, staccato bursts you would associate with a drill sergeant, but is a nice guy who keeps the class moving. Because the company I’m working for does use many dangerous chemicals in its manufacturing process, there are many things even an office worker should know. Also, there is a lecture about harassment, sexual and otherwise. Over the course of the orientation, they process my paperwork and by the time I leave there I have a shiny new badge that will give me all the building access I need to do my job.
Technical Writing Orientation
After orientation I drive to the corporation’s other campus, where my daily job will be. It’s a huge campus with about ten big buildings. The building I work in has its own convenience store and cafeteria. One of the people I interviewed with comes down to meet me and gives me a short tour before heading to my cubicle. We go by the supply room and I pick up a notepad and a couple pens. After that, I write down the name and job function of everyone I meet. I have never been good with remembering names off the top of my head, and this gives me a reference that I can look back on later.
The first problem to emerge is the most typical. My computer is not ready yet and neither is my cubicle. They set me up at a temporary computer, but it doesn’t have the required software and nobody seems to have administration rights to the computer so we can’t install any new software either. There are about four key pieces of software I need to do my job, and the computer only has one of them. The problem is compounded because one of my bosses will be out of town all next week, and the other will only be in town on Monday and Friday.
While they scramble to solve the computer problem, I spend several hours looking over printouts of what I should be accessing online. I also read the company technical authoring guide; it goes over document formats, common product technical terms and includes a brief style guide. Many companies/departments don’t have one of these, so I consider is a good sign that this one does.
As the day progresses, I get moved to a small computer lab, where I can at least access the documents I need to read. My bosses also manage to procure for me the glossy marketing guides that have been produced for the products. One of the bosses immediately finds a technical flaw in their documents and brings it back to them.
Technical Writing Glitches
As the day winds down, my bosses figure out a basic solution to my computer problems that will, they hope, be put into place on Monday. Towards the end of the day I have one of my bosses sign my time sheet (Even though it was my first day, it was still a Friday) and I faxed it in to my contracting agency. Ten hours after I walked into the safety meeting I got to go home.
Overall it was a pretty typical first day. There will always be initial confusion, both for you and the company, and it is a good idea to take everything in stride. Just make sure you know four things by the end of the day: who your boss is, how to get in and out of the building, where the bathrooms are, and what the dress code is. If another week passes before they can get most of your problems fixed, then you can start to panic.
