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If you’re an HR, Documentation or Technical Communications Manager, when you finally get the approval to hire one or more contract technical writers you’ll want to go about it the right way in order to avoid problems and ensure success.

This timeless article, written by Writing Assistance, Inc.’s President, Scott Hartmann, provides insight on what managers need to do before and during the process of bringing in new contract technical writing professionals, from creating an appropriate job description to where to find qualified candidates, what to look for in assessing fit for your job or project and the contract itself.

Read: Hiring Contract Technical Writers

Related
Which Skill Sets Are Important for Technical Writers?
Getting Buy In for Hiring Technical Writers in Tough Times

Have you had to hire contract technical writers in the past, or are you in the process of looking for technical writers now? Please post a comment and share your thoughts.

In his blog, Many Ways to Learn, Mike Petersell asks, “Learning vs. Recruiting: Who Would Win a Social Media War?“

In the post, Mike gives examples that helped him reach his conclusion that:

“If learning people faced recruiting people in a social media war, the learning people would lose.”

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Probably the most telling example was that his local ASTD chapter hosted an excellent and informative meeting on social media usage. The guest speaker? A recruiter.

We think Mike (a proponent of using social media for internal training purposes) has a valid point. We’ve learned this from actual experience, in fact. Trying to find professional trainers and instructional designers/developers in social media is no easy task, while it seems recruiters are everywhere you look.

But it’s not just learning professionals who have been slow to join the social media bandwagon. We’ve also brought up the point with our recent post, How Technical Documentation Professionals Can Use Twitter.

We’re not entirely sure of the reasoning behind this, but it could be partially due to the fact that recruiting firms are all about marketing: marketing jobs to candidates and candidates to employers. Because social media has taken such a stronghold as a new marketing tool, it would only make sense that recruiters would be among the early adopters.

Admittedly, even as professional specialty recruiters, WAI has only recently joined the wonderworld of social media. It is indeed a strong marketing tool, but we also find that it helps us stay in touch with what’s going on with both candidates and potential employers.

Social media certainly holds considerable promise for learning professionals, technical communicators and a myriad of others. It just seems that those uses have not yet been fleshed out to the point where they’ve reached adoption by the masses in these professions. What do you think?

Source: Learning vs. Recruiting: Who Would Win a Social Media War?
Related: How Technical Documentation Professionals Can Use Twitter

This post on Tech Tav talks about how new technical writers can stand out in a crowded field of job applicants.

While the advice is geared toward technical writers in Israel, it certainly applies to the U.S. and Canada, too.

The other aspect of this that seems important is that it not only applies to new technical writing graduates, but to those who are unemployed and competing in today’s tough job market. For that matter, it also seems to apply to those who are comfortably situated in a technical writing who think they are secure in their jobs.

The advice?

The advice given in the article includes these five ideas:

• Learn a New Skill
• Get Creative
• Find an Internship
• Do Some Volunteer Work
• Get Involved with Social Media

Lets’ face it: There’s just very little job security anymore. If and when the time comes for your company to cut staff, what are you doing/have you done that might give even the slightest advantage when it comes time to decide who gets let go? Sure, the internship part of the advice doesn’t apply to everyone. But in today’s economy, it seems that you need to be mindful of your qualifications and what differentiates you from the competition every day.

Independent, self-employed and contract technical writers already know that’s true. They need to bring value to the table. And the more they can differentiate themselves from their competition (in a good way), the better.

When’s the last time you learned a new skill? When’s the last time you did something really creative, like a video resume or a demo on using Camtasia, Captivate or Flash? Are you thinking about how you can stand out in the crowd and what are you doing to prevent getting trapped in a career dead end?

What are your thoughts? In today’s marketplace, what are some of the things technical writers can do to stand out in the crowd and get noticed?

Software maker ComponentOne recently announced the release of its Doc-To-Help 2010 v2. A good portion of the technical communications community is familiar with Doc-To-Help, which is used to produce desktop, Web and print deliverables.

The company’s announcement indicated that this release focuses on Microsoft’s current and upcoming releases, Visual Studio 2010 and Office 2010, as well as improvements in usability.

ComponentOne said it has had a close relationship with Microsoft for over 20 years and that Doc-To-Help is the first help authoring tool to support Microsoft Word 2010 (which has not yet been released), Microsoft Help Viewer 1.0 (Microsoft’s newest Visual Studio Help format) and Microsoft’s Team Foundation Server 2010.

Dan Beall, product manager at ComponentOne said the company wanted to make sure that Doc-To-Help will cause no delay when an organization whose technical communicators are using Doc-To-Help decides to upgrade its Microsoft infrastructure. Beall also said that some of the new and enhanced user experience features in Doc-To-Help 2010 v2 include: Word Count, Topic Placeholders and Automatic Update of Custom Table of Contents.

Visit the Doc-To-Help website for more information.

Related:
Technical Writers: How Important is Specific Software Experience?

If you are a technical communicator, what software tools do you use? If you hire technical communicators, how important is experience with a specific software tool when it comes to selecting new hires? Leave a comment!

Event: The Conference for Software User Assistance 2011
When: March 13-16, 2011
Location: Long Beach, CA

Sponsored by Writers UA the theme of the 2011 Conference for Software User Assistance is Better UX through Better UA. Registration is now open and early-bird discounts are now in effect.

The conference topics are expected to include:

• DITA, XML, and Information Architecture
• User-centered Design and Usability
• eLearning Tools and Techniques
• Hands-on Computer Tutorials
• Adobe, Microsoft, Google
• UA for Mobile Devices
• Case Studies

Conference Links
Conference Overview
Conference Agenda
Register Online
Conference Hotel/Travel Info

Also of Interest
How to Justify Conference Attendance

Editor’s Note: This was the feature article in this month’s TechCom Manager newsletter, reprinted here with permission. Click the previous link to subscribe to the newsletter.

As documentation managers, technical communicators, and training specialists, we understand the importance of clear, concise communication. Or at least we are supposed to. As it turns out, many of us don’t. This article explores the new realities of a global information marketplace, the impact of the world wide web on communication professionals, and the importance of saying exactly what we mean.

Often, documentation managers are tasked with all sorts of chores — an increasing list of meetings, reports, updates, and other business minutiae heaped upon plates already full with responsibility. Ironically, many of these tasks are about managing the people, processes, and projects in their department, and not so much about managing the content itself.

Often, documentation managers are tasked with all sorts of chores — an increasing list of meetings, reports, updates, and other business minutiae heaped upon plates already full with responsibility. Ironically, many of these tasks are about managing the people, processes, and projects in their department, and not so much about managing the content itself.

This, however, is changing as more and more organizations begin to understand one business-critical fact: Content is a business asset worthy of being managed efficiently and effectively, just like the inventory of parts in a manufacturing plant or the dollars and cents in a group retirement fund. What’s needed is a coherent, repeatable set of processes designed to control the production, delivery, retirement, and archiving of content, supported by standards, and implemented using software tools designed to enforce rules and automate manual tasks.

This refrain is nothing new. Technical communication literature is packed with case studies, lessons learned and best practices detailing the need for adopting XML component content management, structured authoring, content reuse, automation…you get the picture.

But as many organizations start to see the importance of controlling their content, they usually take the path they have traveled most often before — the wrong path — one that leads to a less successful project. Instead of taking a step back and focusing on content and the needs of those who create it, consume it, and reuse it, organizations usually start by talking about software. And that is where the trouble begins.

Read the rest of this entry »

Since WAI has recently joined Twitter, I really hadn’t had time to think much about how technical documentation professionals like technical writers and others could really make the most of having a Twitter presence.

This post by Anne Gentle published on Twittip certainly stirs the imagination. While her post applies mainly to staff tech writers, she first discusses how technical writers can get started with Twitter:

• Monitor and listen first
• Play your part
• Give more than you get
• Measure

These steps apply to pretty much anyone who uses social media in general and Twitter specifically, but it’s the suggestions she has for how members of a company’s technical documentation team can help provide information on products and applications they document through Twitter that caught my eye, such as the idea of using Twitter as a medium for release notes.

I’m sure with the ingenuity and creativity many in the technical documentation community enjoy, it’s just a matter of time that this method of keeping customers advised really takes hold.

In what ways are your technical communications and tech support staff using Twitter or other forms of social media to get the word out about your products, latest releases, etc.? Have you given it consideration?

Great leaders are not always born that way.

Unfortunately, many management training programs don’t sufficiently emphasize leadership development, but instead focus on fundamentals and the day-to-day tasks that confront managers within the organization.

If you’re currently a manager or about to become one, you need to think about more than accomplishing tasks if you want to become a true leader.

As writer Kerri Harris points out in Fundamentals of Leadership: Communicating a Vision:

“Experts have long studied the subtle differences between general management, leadership, and truly great leaders. Thomas Cronin, author of, Thinking About Leadership observes, ‘Managers do things the right way, while leaders are more concerned with doing the right thing.’ “

Harris goes on to say:

“There are recognizable characteristics in great leaders and simple strategies anyone can adopt to improve employee performance and change the work environment for the better.”

Harris’ article takes a look at how having vision and then communicating it is the foundation of leadership and contributes to the makeup of a truly great leader.

What are some of the characteristics of true leaders that set them apart from other managers? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Continue reading Fundamentals of Leadership: Communicating a Vision

Going on or conducting face-to-face interviews can be nerve wracking – both for the job seeker and the person conducting the interview.

These ten tips from Karen O’Keefe are designed to ease the stress of interviews and make the interviewing process go more smoothly.

Use these tips the next time you need to conduct or attend an interview and perhaps you’ll improve your chances for success.

Read: Top 10 Interview Tips

Related Topics:

Negotiating Techniques
The Art of Self Marketing

Like any profession, becoming a technical writer requires a mastery of a certain set of skills. This skill set used to involve primarily writing and illustration skills, as large manuals for print publication were the standard in the profession.

The worlds of communications and technology have evolved dramatically in the latter part of the 20th century and the early part of this century. How has that evolution affected the skill set required for a technical writer?

Continue reading Which Skill Sets are Important in Hiring Technical Writers

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Considerations for Hiring Technical Writers
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Need Technical Writing Services?. Just contact us and we’ll take it from there!

What skills do you feel are important for today’s technical communications professional? Leave a comment!