Comments on: Five Skills Every Technical Writer Needs

By: gilles

gilles — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:51:17 +0000

Do you believe that VISIO is a must for a technical writer, and perhaps an instructional designer.

It seems to me. Got one cheap? Do you need M Office 2007 for 2007 VISIO?

gilles

By: Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:19:57 +0000

Fran, thanks for adding your comment to this post. I agree that self-confidence is a huge quality to have. I think my self-confidence has helped me get respect and integrate well as a valuable member of projects I’m on. Without self-confidence, I think one wouldn’t do well in this field, especially because tech writers are often marginalized.

By: Fran

Fran — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:00:10 +0000

Good article! Thanks as it was so relevant today (12/3). Just left my manager’s office where we discussed an email thread that appeared to say I was out-of-line by requesting a software change but not through the normal challenges. Actually, all I did was ask why something worked the way it did and stated it needed to be changed. I discovered the discrepancy while writing a functional analysis for a new project.

So add self-confidence to your list of skills. Because I am self-confident and very organized (not naturally but by experience), I was able to show my manager my actions through emails. As it turns out, the IT person involved is not self-confident and has a huge ego so I got the blame in a very long email thread where I was not copied. My manager knows me and just wanted me to be sure he knew about the isse. Still it was good to be able to document my actions and leave his office with my conficence intact.

Now, back to work!

Fran

By: Cum să devii technical writer

Cum să devii technical writer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:04:50 +0000

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By: Cliff

Cliff — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:05:05 +0000

you can add the some topics how to how to evaluate the delivery carried by a TW. To evaulate whether a product O&M function is good or not, the ITUT standards can explain it through FCAPS.As I know ,so far, for the documets,there is no a general quality model and index to evaluate.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:49:29 +0000

Hmm my browser hanged for a while, and i thought the first post didn’t go through. Sorry for the repetition.

By: Sand

Sand — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:46:45 +0000

Hi. That was an interesting read. However what is the employability for someone who has never had hands on experience in the IT field? I’m an HR Generalist for five years and am currently attached to an IT security company. I’m not technically sound but my interest for writing and to become more “technical” has fueled me to consider changing my career path. Any advice or recommendation to get started in this profession? Also, what do you think are the transferable skills that i can brush up on to prep myself for this challenge? Thanks. Much appreciated.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:35:56 +0000

Hi. That’s an interesting read. However what do you think of the employability as a TW for someone who has never had hands on experience in the IT field? I’ve been an HR Generalist for five years and is currently attached to an IT company but my interest for writing and to become more “technical” is growing and hence the consideration to switch my career path. Any advice on how to get started at all will be much appreciated. Also, what do you think are the transferable skills to becoming a TW, interest aside? Thanks.

By: Cliff

Cliff — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 05:44:14 +0000

I alomost agree your comments.TW should have the skills.

But how to get the skills ,in other word,the learning path,is not mentioned in your column.

And what is the TW total skill map is very important for the IT industry,especially in China.

By: David Williamson

David Williamson — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:40:19 +0000

“You do not know a technology until you can explain it to your grandmother.”
Albert Einstein