Post-Graduation as a Technical Writer

I have a very unique situation as a technical writer. I chose this major because I knew it would be a degree as a precursor to entering law school.

This June, I will be taking the LSAT, and during the fall semester I will be applying to various law schools. Currently, my top three law schools are Indiana University in Bloomington, University of Missouri, Columbia, and the the University of Missouri Kansas City.

To apply to any of these law schools, I have to fill out several applications, create a portfolio, draft a letter of intent, and collect letters of recommendation from several professors.

My skills as a technical writer will help me to stand out among my fellow applicants for law school in several ways. A few weeks ago, Pittsburg State was visited by an English major who was not working as an English major. Joi Tribble discussed how her training as English major made her a desirable employee because of her critical reading and writing skills. These same skills will be useful when taking the LSAT, and in law school.

Skills that I still need to develop would be all law-related, such as litigation, application of past cases, and torts.

Thanks to my internship at Krimson Kultuur, I have better understanding of business and business practices. It has also taught me that I am not interested in practicing business law. Krimson Kultuur has also increased my ability to work with, help, and converse with strangers in a professional setting.

Below, I have included links to apply to take the LSAT, and links to the three law schools I mentioned earlier as my top three choices. All three are self-explanatory in regards to applications.

• http://lsac.org/
• http://www.law.missouri.edu/
•  http://law.umkc.edu/
• http://www.law.indiana.edu/

From the Schoolroom to the Workroom

Job Description

For my internship, I was an assistant instructional designer. It was my responsibility to create an Adobe InDesign reference guide, five instructional modules—this included two modules for creating fliers, one for a printable form, one for an interactive PDF form, and one for a brochure— and a detailed scenario for the modules.

Required Qualifications

• Proficient knowledge in the use of Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word
• Knowledge of Microsoft Style
• Knowledge of style guides for consistent
• Language
• Formatting
• Visual guides
• Technical editing and proofreading skills
• Completion of the Advanced Technical Writing and Document Design courses

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of Adode PhotoShop and Illustrat
• Have read Julie Dirksen’s Design for How People Learn 

New Abilities and Skills

           

New abilities and skills I have gained during this internship was how to create instructional documents. I have created instructions in the past; however, the modules I created during this internship are different because the modules are designed to instill long-term skills that can be applied to other projects in the Document Design course. As part of this internship, I read Julie Dirksen’s Design for How People Learn, which taught me how people organize information, use scenarios to add context and communicate the objective of the modules, scaffold the learning environment, and determine what skills are important for the students to learn. I was aware of some of the information Dirksen presented in her book, but there was also new knowledge that I gained. Susan Krantz, in her article A Newcomer Gains Power, states “Rhetorical expertise involves an awareness of the basic concerns of audience and purpose; successful strategies for invention (e.g., generating ideas by brainstorming, overcoming writer's block); and a facility with language, both written and oral, that allows the rhetor to use strategies for invention and organization to respond appropriately to the intended audience for an intended purpose.” I find this to be true because I had to find  new ways of communicating information to be utilized as learning tools.

Unused Skills

For my internship, I employed all of the skills I acquired during my experiences in the Technical/Professional Writing program. I was apprehensive when asked by Dr. McDaniel if I had any experience using PhotoShop or Illustrator. The experiences I have had with these programs were limited, as I had only used them once in a web development course I had taken; however, due to my limited knowledge, these programs were optional. If I continue to work in design, PhotoShop and Illustrator will become necessary skills for me to acquire.

Differences in Writing for the Classroom and Writing in an Internship

The style of writing I used in my internship varied greatly from the academic writing I did in my coursework. In academic writing, you are informing or persuading an audience by incorporating supporting arguments for your point-of-view. While I did incorporate some forms of rhetoric in my module design, they are purely information with no supporting arguments and I became the sole authoritative voice. This allowed me to have creative freedom with the instructional design and guide the students to achieve the outcome I envisioned. At first, I struggled with the transition from classroom writing to writing for application—and how to incorporate the classroom skills into this new setting. According to Chris Anson and Lee Forsberg, “While certain surface-level writing skills are ‘portable’ across diverse contexts, such skills are less important to making a success transition as a writer coping with the unfamiliar epistemological, social, and organizational characteristics of a new context.” I first had to understand who my audience is, what motivates them, and what would help them remember the skills I was offering. Once I understood these elements, I was able to create a style guide to incorporate visual guides and simple and consistent language.

Writing Context, Work Atmosphere, and Organizational Hierarchy

In her article Understanding the Writing Contexts in Organizations, Linda Driskill states “The ‘subject’ or ‘topic’ is not context-free, but situated, involved in what the members of the organization must know, feel, or believe in order to accomplish their goals.” This is true in the creation of the modules for this internship. These modules did not address all the abilities of InDesign, but established the basic knowledge of the program needed to create common documents—such as fliers, forms, and brochures. I did have creative freedom in the scenario and the outcome designs of the modules; however, the context of the module itself was limited. Its only goal was to instruct the student in the use of InDesign.

The work atmosphere for this internship was relaxed and I was able to work at my own pace. When I completed a module, I would meet with Dr. McDaniel—my internship supervisor—to discuss the module and establish plans for the next one. I was given creative freedom in the designs process; however, Dr. McDaniel and I created guidelines for skills acquired in the modules and this helped to maintain focus in the creation process.

Sources:

Anson, Chris and Forsberg, Lee Moving Beyond the Academic Community

Driskill, Linda  Understanding the Writing Contexts in Organizations

Kratz, Susan A Newcomer Gains Power

            

Genre In Technical and Professional Writing

The genre of instructional design is applicable to many areas of technical and professional writing. It can be used to create recipes, manuals, assignments, and many other tools in aiding an audience to complete a task. During my internship, I was assigned the task of creating five modules to aid the Document Design students in the use of Adobe InDesign and to develop a set of skills that can be utilized in other areas of the course. The primary elements I used in the creation of the modules were a scenario, applicable and practical designs, incorporation of visual and textual guides in the steps, and repetition of skills.

According to Carolyn Miller, “…if genre represents action, it must involve situation and motive, because human action, whether symbolic or otherwise, is interpretable only against a context of situation and through the attributing of motives.” By incorporating a scenario into the modules, it gives the students context and motive to apply to the modules, otherwise the modules are only a series of steps with no purpose. This will help in their retention of the skills applied during the modules. In addition, the applicable and practical designs are documents—such as fliers, forms, and brochures—that apply to the scenario. The use of visual guides in the modules helps to break up the text and aids in the learning process. Incorporating visual guides aids the visual learner to complete the steps. The modules also build upon each other, with each new module introducing new skills while incorporating skills from the previous module. This repetition will also aid in the retention process.

In their article Rhetorical Genre Studies, Anis Bawarshi and Mary Jo Reiff state “…genres are dynamic because as their conditions of use change—for example because of changes in material conditions, changes in community membership, changes in technology, changes in disciplinary purposes, and values…—genres must change along with them or risk becoming obsolete.” Since genres are dynamic, they can adapt to any situation. Other professional context, outside of an academic setting, which would use instructional design, would be instruction manuals. Like the modules I have created, instruction manuals are systematic guides to guide the user in completing the task. The context would be the scenario in which the manual would apply—for instance, putting together a set of bookshelves. In addition to context, the manuals contain visual/textual guides and a repetition of skills. This combination of elements is what creates an effective document that the user can learn from.

Sources: 

Bawarshi, Anis and Reiff, Mary Jo Rhetorical Genre Studies

Miller, Carolyn Genre as a Social Action

Training for the Future

Contributions to my qualifications

My internship has contributed to my qualifications as a technical writer by giving me lots of “real world” experience. I have been able to practice creating documents for other users, including instructional documents, created promotional materials such as a flyer, gained experience editing, as well as valuable experience for any type of job in communicating with others. I was able to practice communicating in different forms and with different people to accomplish tasks from communicating back and forth with authors about their documents to communicating and collaborating with my supervisor for the internship to set goals and timelines for tasks to be accomplished. Though all the other experience I have gained during this internship is important and valuable to me as a I go out in search of a position after graduation, having the proven ability and experience of strong communication skills and the ability to work individually or as a member of a group is a very big plus to have on my resume.

Other skills and abilities I may need to develop are likely going to include becoming more comfortable with graphic software, especially the most popular ones like Photoshop and InDesign. Though I already have a working knowledge of these programs, I would like to be even better versed in using them and knowing what they are capable of. Most of any other qualifications I will need seem to be company-specific in most of the job postings I have seen; for example, I saw a job posting for a technical writer at Garmin, but they specifically needed someone with knowledge of aviation and aviation mechanics to write instructional manuals for their aviation GPS units. Several positions for technical writers I have seen are similar in the requirements for highly specific knowledge of a certain field. Regardless of how specific the information is, all technical writers need to be able to write in a manner that makes the material accessible and user-friendly. In order to do this, future employees will need to listen to the way people communicate and interpret language in order to fit into a corporate environment (Southard 85).

Job #1

The first job I researched was a proposal writer for Perceptive Software (a Lexmark company).

Specific job duties will include:

•       Writing – Provide responses to RFP requirements based on product knowledge, research and knowledge of the prospect gained via the RFP or from the sales team.

•       Editing – Edit other writers’ work for content, tone, accuracy, key messages and win themes.

•       Proofreading – Proofread outgoing RFPs and collateral as needed to eliminate typos, grammatical errors and formatting issues.

•       Research – Possess an understanding of technical topics and be able to independently research and comprehend technologies to provide accurate and thoughtful RFP responses.

•       Project Management – Work closely with proposal managers, proposal writers, knowledge managers and account executives among others, to ensure all content is delivered accurately and on time. Manage the resources needed to guarantee compelling deliverables.

This job requires, at a minimum, the following skills:

•       Possessing a high degree of comfort writing about, reading about and discussing technical subjects relating to software and hardware, such as client/server technology, TCP/IP communications, browsers, electronic file formats, storage media, operating systems and hardware platforms.

•       Effectively narrating how enterprise technology products are used so that future customers will clearly understand the scope of solutions Perceptive Software provides and the positive impact those solutions will have on their business.

•       Writing quickly, accurately and concisely, and developing messaging for the most critical aspects of each piece.

•       Leading cross-functional teams and around potential obstacles to get the details necessary to ensure completeness and accuracy of all response content.

•       Taking an assignment from start to finish, getting help as needed, and delivering back to the proposal project manager and account executive a close-to-completed work that needs only minor editorial comment.

Additional duties as required.

Training Unit:

The training unit for this position would include writing grant proposals, possibly learning the most effective ways to research topics and other companies, and  practice writing in a narrative style.

Job #2

The second job I researched was a technical writing position at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Major Responsibilities: 

•       Tracks and maintains business use cases, procedures, process maps, plans, and related documentation to ensure timely review, revision, and posting in the Sharepoint site.

•       Perform or coordinate, as necessary, the technical editing of business use cases, procedures, process maps, and any other required documentation to help ensure clear, concise, accurate, and grammatically correct documents.

•       Create and update existing job aids and website content as needed.

•       Maintain a consistent look and feel throughout all documentation.

•       Copy, edit and proofread all content.

•       Assure information and approvals are archived for future needs and reference.

•       Work cooperatively with key team members, clients and vendors.

•       Exceptional communication and organizational skills.

•       Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

•       Extensive knowledge of Microsoft Office products.

•       Experience with Sharepoint or the ability to learn how to effectively use it. 

•       Proven ability to build consensus and work effectively within a cross-departmental team.

Training Unit:

The training unit for this position would include learning what Sharepoint is and how to use it, as well as extensive study of business use cases, procedures, process maps, and any other required documentation.

Job #3

The third job I researched was as a technical writer for the Norland Group.

‪Responsibilities include:

•       accumulating technical data and documentation, and presenting written assembly instructions.

•       ‪Interact with engineering, management and production personnel to obtain accurate data and information for document content.

•       ‪Strong technical knowledge in the given field with a good grasp of technical terminology.

•       ‪Organize technical data to provide easily understood instructions to the user.

‪

Required Skills:

•       ‪Framemaker software– working knowledge

•       ‪Photoshop software – working knowledge

•       ‪Industrial process familiarity

•       ‪Process knowledge/awareness

•       ‪ECN system

Training Unit:

The training unit for this job would include learning how to use Framemaker software as well as Photoshop software. I would also need to familiarize myself with what the company does and what exactly they mean by “industrial process familiarity.” I would also need to learn what an ECN system is and how it operates. This is a position that seems to have job-specific knowledge and jargon I would need to learn.

Sources

Johnson-Eilola, Johndan. “Relocating the Value of Work: Technical Communication in a Post-Industrial Age.”

Soplinsky, Emily. “Survival Skills for Communicators within Organizations.”

Southard, Sherry G. “Interacting Successfully in Corporate Culture.” 

An Anthology for Krimson Kultuur

• Store Manager at Krimson Kultuur
• Responsibilities 
• Open and close store as needed
• Create volunteer schedule
• Manage volunteers
• Order product
• Inventory of products
• Create displays/sets for products
• Manage SQUARE 
• Manage social media
• Manage website through Weebly
• Required qualifications
• Website skills
• People skills
• Communication skills

The writing in this internship differs from regular class writing for several reasons. Mainly, this writing is not graded. It is on a need-to-need basis, and you are your own editor. The computer context is marginal, as the only real computer work needed is email and the management of the Weebly-based website. Everything else in the store ran by an iPad that is connected to the SQUARE register system.

In regards to hierarchy, particularly with Susan Katz's essay in mind, the hierarchy is confusing in Krimson Kultuur, because a lead intern was never put in place, nor were other leaders named except for the two faculty members who were involved in the store development, Suzanne Hurt and Dr. Lynn Murray. The work atmosphere is very casual, with little to no supervision. The writing is minimal and always professional.

To those who are taking my position, they should know that since the store is ran by the business club Enactus, club politics will effect your workplace, schedules are often disorganized, and wires are frequently crossed because you are working for other students who are learning just like you. It's also important to do research! Research the vendors in the store, meet the local artists, and be able to answer questions that customers may have. Any retail experience you have will enhance your success in the internship, because not only do you write for Krimson Kultuur, you will spend at least two hundred hours in the store working with customers and other volunteers.

Bibliography:

Anson, Chris M. "Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing". Written Communication. 1990. Print.

Driskell, Linda. Understanding the Writing in Organizations. Print.  

 Katz, Susan. "A Newcomer Gains Power". Journal of Business Communication. 1998. Print.

From Schoolroom to Workroom

Job Title

I am working as the assistant editor of the CEA Forum. I work closely with Dr. McDaniel who is my supervisor as well as the editor of the CEA Forum.

Responsibilities

I have had varying responsibilities throughout this internship, including designing and creating a promotional flyer, correcting website typos and errors, designing a workflow document for future interns to reference, learning how to navigate and use the CMS for the forum, as well as editing article submissions, communicating with authors, and applying a template to articles as well as checking the format against the style sheet.

Qualifications

Some qualifications for this job would include:

• ·      Upper-level classman in the technical writing emphasis
• ·      Completing of Technical/Professional Writing
• ·      Completion of Document Design
• ·      Completion of Technical/Professional Editing
• ·      Familiarity with Microsoft word, especially using review feature

Preferred qualifications:

• ·      Basic knowledge of InDesign or similar graphic design software
• ·      Previous experience with content management systems

New Skill Acquisition

The majority of abilities and skills I have needed during this internship are ones that I feel I have already learned in the classroom; for instance, skills needed to design and create a flyer incorporated knowledge from my previous learning and experiences in classes like document design and page layout software. Knowledge required to make an effective workflow document applies skills learned in my technical/professional writing, advanced technical/professional writing, editing, and document design classes. I was actually quite happy and surprised by how much my classes had helped to prepare me for a “real world” scenario. I had expected that much like Anson and Forsberg wrote I would be one of the students who went from my experience in the classroom to a position in an organization or company where the expectations would not line up with those of the academic world. It seems that this is a popular fear and warning that I hear, that even though going to school and getting our degrees is supposed to prepare us for a job in the corporate world what we are taught and what is expected from a company are two different things. I was happy that in my case they are not all that different, what makes a good document for a class project still makes a good document in a real world application of those skills.

Abilities and Skills I Expected to Use

I thought that I would use more graphic design skills in this internship, but they were very minimal. I also thought that I may need to work with social media but was unsure if that would be part of my responsibilities or not. The only thing close to social media I dealt with was the website itself. Other than those two things I feel that my expectations of needed skills was mostly accurate.

Writing Context, Work Atmosphere, Organizational Hierarchy

This internship experience was mostly informal; because the meetings with my supervisor were one-on-one and we worked through what each of my assignments was as they came up there was very good communication and I felt that I had a clear understanding of what was expected in my work. The writing context was still professional in most of my documents, perhaps with the exception of the workflow document, which had a very informal tone to the writing.

Works Consulted

Anson, Chrisand Lee Forsberg. “Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing”

Driskill, Linda. “Understanding the Writing Contexts in Organizations”

Katz, Susan. “A Newcomer Gains Power: An Analysis of the Role of Rhetorical Expertise”

Genres in Technical and Professional Writing: Instructions

While working at Krimson Kultuur, one of my main assignments was to write procedures and methods for the store. This assignment was particularly important to the store, since the store is ran by volunteers. These people do not actually receive training before working their hours. They are given a crash course on how to use the register, and are encouraged to explore the store and ask questions as they arise. Most do not ask questions, pretend to understand how to use the register, and then are left alone in a store they know nothing about.

Therefore, I created “cheat sheets” for them to follow. How to use the SQUARE register system, what to do when opening and closing, and other information was provided. These instructions were written clearly in a reader-friendly font, order, and size. Usability is important when creating instructions for people; they need to be able to read and act as the steps go on.

A large portion of technical and professional writing is found in writing clear instructions and procedures for people to follow. An important part of the language and genres taught in the technical writing is writing for a common person or writing in a commonplace way. This means that the writer must be able to write in an informative and simple manner that would make it easy for a person to follow the instructions set before them. This seems to be one of the main types of genre writing professionals associate with our field.

This genre will be used in most work forces; either for permanent working procedures or for something specific that is arising. Either way, oftentimes people will need to know exactly how to do something, whether new technology is being explained, or old instructions need to be updated. It is important that these instructions be clear, concise, orderly, and reusable. Very often companies will hire based off of the need for an “instruction writer” alone. It is important to have instructions in your portfolio as a technical writer, especially because of the commonplace attitude of that genre in our field. Be prepared for this, even if you have little experience in actually writing them. It's something a writer develops a knack for, rather than learns. It is as essential to our area of expertise as editing and design.