Looking at
life after college can be a dauntless and frustrating task. I have encountered
many job advertisements that want 3-5 years experience, but I am not going to
let that stop me. I believe that if I
have the required and preferred skills I can make myself marketable to those
companies. Emily Soplinsky, in her article Survival Skills for Communicators with
Organizations states, “Technical communicators frequently find themselves
in situations that require more organizational skills than simply knowing what makes
a good document.” With additional training, I can gain additional organization
skills and increase my marketability for the jobs listed below.
Job One - Technical Editor
Company
Information
Builders
Description
- The Technical Editor provides editorial services and support to all Technical Content Management staff, in addition to release publishing support. The Technical Editor cultivates cooperative relationships with the technical writing staff and serves as a resource on writing, editorial, and production issues. Specific responsibilities include:
- Copy editing and indexing online and print documentation. Assuming the role of objective reader/user, evaluating organization and clarity of information presented, and identifying topics for reuse.
- Developing, maintaining, and interpreting style standards and procedures.
- Supporting the implementation of a content management system, particularly by defining guidelines and best practices for single-sourcing, minimalistic writing, and utilizing DITA/XML document processing.
- Participating in the creation and maintenance of project plans as they pertain to copy edit and writing tasks.
- Support production processes for online and print deliverables.
- Collaborating with Technical Writers and Product Managers to collect information necessary to improve documentation (for example, obtaining answers to questions about content; helping to determine how new features or changes to documentation are most effectively presented).
- Supporting department-level projects and communications, such as the Technical Documentation Library, the department web site, and STC activities.
- Troubleshooting possible problems related to the electronic publishing tools in the Windows environment (Astoria, WorldServer, XMetal, Acrobat, etc.).
- Participating in Quality Assurance reviews of documentation in print, PDF, and HTML formats.
- Training other staff in style standards, editing procedures, indexing procedures, and electronic publishing tools.
- Building technical product knowledge in order to make informed decisions and add value during the editorial process.
- Approximately 5-7 years of experience in a documentation environment, technical or non-technical.
- Four-year college degree in English, Writing, Journalism or other related topic.
- PC experience with Windows and desktop publishing software.
- Strong grammar, copyediting, and proofreading skills, with good attention to detail.
- Internet research skills.
- Ability to multi-task, maintain schedules, and meet scheduled deadlines.
- Ability to collaborate with individuals and groups to complete projects.
- The following skills are desired but not required:
- Experience with XML or HTML and publishing on the Internet.
Job Posting: http://www.candidatemanager.net/cm/Micro/JobDetails.aspx?&mid=YFDB&sid=BBWF&jid=UWEVUAZU&site=Information
Training Guide
Additional training I would need for this position is knowledge of DITA/XML,
WorldServer, and XMetal.
DITA: Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an open toolkit
used in publishing. A DITA user guide
can be found at http://dita-ot.sourceforge.net/doc/ot-userguide/xhtml/. A YouTube DITA quick start guide,
posted by Suite Solutions, is an additional training resource.
XML: EXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language like
HTML. XML tutorials can be found at http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp.
Portnovschool has also posted a XML tutorial for beginners
on YouTube.
WorldServer: SDL WorldServer simplifies and accelerates localization processes for any content - from websites to documents to software. (http://www.sdl.com/products/sdl-worldserver/). SDL has a PDF user guide for
WorldServer available.
XMetaL:
XmetaL is an XML editor. XMetaL offers several PDF user
guides and publishingsmarter has a XMetaL basics video
available on YouTube.
Job Two -
Company
Department
of Homeland Security
Description
- Researches, writes, edits, and proofreads more complex technical data for use in documents or sections of documents such as manuals, procedures and specifications to provide clients with information regarding technical areas in a less technical way.
- Assists in establishing style guidelines and standards for texts and illustrations to meet business needs.
- Interviews programmers, engineers, developers, and other technical personnel;. Reads previous documentation and design notes, and uses computer based training or company technical products to gather and research technical information for use in more complex documentation.
- Writes, organizes, enters and compiles more complex online help files to support end users.
- Creates, compiles, and delivers more complex system/software developmental documentation packages including, but not limited to narratives, logic diagrams, input and output samples, input preparation instructions, job setup information, etc., from technical project team inputs, system requirements analysis, system design specifications, technical system design, technical procedure development, configuration control requirements, test and training specifications, and programming notes.
- Assists in creating project plan, etc. for completing documentation.
- Provides leadership and work guidance to less experienced personnel.
- Follow a standardized process to edit and deliver software documentation
- Review and edit release and program-level documents for grammar, spelling, and internal consistency
- Verify document references, check that the document contains all sections mandated by the customer's templates, and ensure completeness of the list of acronyms
- Make formatting corrections to ensure compliance with the program's standards
- Regularly assist other team members
- Ensure timely delivery of documentation
- Record the status of editorial tasks in progress
- Retrieve documents from the customer's online documentation library
- Serve as the principal documentation team point of contact for a number of software maintenance projects while also supporting those projects monitored by other team members
- Follow up with document authors when assigned work isn't received by the scheduled date
- Collaborate with Section 508 Team to resolve 508 accessibility issues
- Create document shells from customer mandated templates using the program's standard formatting and CSC branding
- Coach the business analysts, software developers, and testers who write the documents on the documentation process
- Work closely with Technical Writers and Subject Matter Experts (SME) to improve editorial and visual standards for documents and recommend new designs, layouts, and procedures as needed
- Assist agile project teams in developing technical documentation
- Collaborate with documentation team and lead to streamline the documentation workflow and/or the overall program process
- Other work as assigned by the team lead or manager in support of the projects or program
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience
- Bachelor's degree in communications, journalism, technical writing or related field preferred
- Two or more years of technical writing experience
- Experience working with desktop publishing, word processing, and on-line documentation software
- Experience working with industry writing style such as grammar, sentence form, and structure
- Experience working with company software products
Other Qualifications
- Minimum 2 (two) yrs MS Word experience - required
- Minimum 2 (two) yrs experience editing and formatting documents and drafting presentations required
- Minimum 2 (two) yrs experience with all MS Office products (2007 required, 2010 experience preferred)
- Minimum 2 (two) yrs experience working with PowerPoint presentations required
- Minimum 2 (two) yrs experience supporting IT project deliverables
- Strong familiarity with MS SharePoint desired
- Proficiency with MS Word Styles and automated features within MS Word
- Strong editorial skills and attention to detail
- Familiar with agile principles and practices is a plus
- Familiar with Section 508 standards
- Ability to juggle multiple assignments
- Developed organizational skills
- Ability to learn from constructive criticism in a quality focused environment
- Commitment to process adherence
- Professional manner and strong work ethic
- Ability to manage work/track deadlines
- Must be US Citizen
- Must obtain and maintain DHS 6C Public Trust Clearance
- All work must be conducted at authorized work location, no remote work permitted
Job Posting:
Training Guide
Additional training I would need for this position is knowledge of Section
508 standards and Microsoft Sharepoint.
Section 508 standards PDF guide
is available from Opening Doors to IT.
Microsoft
Sharepoint: Microsoft offers training
courses for Sharepoint. Meetdoro also has a Microsoft Sharepoint
Tutorial available on Youtube.
Job Three –
Company
Chicago
Dryer Company
Description
- Manage the preparation, production, and distribution of machine operating instructions for both print and interactive PDFs
- Write, update and validate service documentation for field personnel
- Ensure that documentation complies with corporate guidelines, displays a consistent voice, and is easily understood by the end-user
- Generate/edit digital photography and simple vector illustrations
- Work on multiple products simultaneously in a fast paced environment
- Develop documentation plans, schedules, and providing status of projects and deliverables
Requirements
- Strong background in procedure development is important
- Ability to multi-task several projects in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment
- Excellent communication skills: oral, written, and editorial
- Proficient in the following Adobe software:
- InDesign (or equivalent) / Acrobat for book creation, page layout, and interactive features
- Photoshop / Illustrator for generating/editing digital photography and simple vector illustrations
- Experience working in a variety of engineering systems, including mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, gas, steam, and thermal fluid
- An ability to read schematics and pneumatic diagrams would be a strong plus
- Familiarity with AutoCAD Mechanical and/or Inventor a plus
- A strong desire to learn and grow professionally
- A fundamental understanding of graphic design/visual communication
- Ability to work with minimal supervision
Job Posting:
Training Guide
Additional training I would need for this position is knowledge of Adobe
Photoshop and Illustrator.
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator: Adobe offers a set of tutorials
for PhotoShop that ranges from beginner to expert levels. Adobe TV offers video
tutorials for
Illustrator.
Adobe
Illustrator: Microsoft offers training
courses for Sharepoint. Meetdoro also has a Microsoft Sharepoint
Tutorial available on Youtube.
The skills
that I have highlighted in each of the training guides are what I believe I
need to improve or learn. These training guides will help to increase my
problem solving skills, however, like Spolinsky says in her article “Problem-solving
skills evolve more from using common sense and learning from past experience
than from following a cookbook. There are no style guides for organizational
behavior and individual behavior within organizations.” Having worked in the medical field for fourteen years I
know this statement to be true, but you learn to problem-solve an issue when it
arises. This is the most important skill to have in the corporate world;
without it you will not be able to do your job effectively.
Soplinsky, Emily Survival Skills for Communicators with Organizations
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