I spent a large part of my technical writing career working as a contractor. It was a formative part of my career where I got to focus on doing the work and got experience working in such industries as telecommunications, financial services, and even worked in an NGO. I’d work on a 1099 or W2… Continue reading Why I left contract technical writing
Category: Contracting
The technical writer’s 5 best friends
Technical writers need to expand their personal and professional friends because they need to. Building a strong personal and professional network 1. The product manager The product manager can be the technical writer’s best friend or worst enemy. Knowing a competent product manager can aid technical writers to better understand the product they are documenting. On the dark side,… Continue reading The technical writer’s 5 best friends
A lesson I learned as a contract technical writer
As a favor to an old friend, I spoke to one of their friend’s kids who got laid off and was forced to go into contract IT work so they could keep paying the bills. Here is one question and answer that stuck out from our phone call: Them: What do you find true about… Continue reading A lesson I learned as a contract technical writer
Weird things I saw when I was a contract technical writer
I’ve been out of full-time contracting for almost two years and recently thought back to some of the stranger things I saw during the contract technical writer chapter of my life: A fellow contractor was posting nude pictures of his wife on Usenet from his client account. He was busted and walked offsite by armed… Continue reading Weird things I saw when I was a contract technical writer
Reflections on my technical writing career
I was once asked in a job interview: “Why do I stay a technical writer when it must be such a dull and boring profession?” After the meeting when I was peeling rubber out of the parking lot, I took a few moments when I was decelerating to think about some of the more interesting… Continue reading Reflections on my technical writing career
Learning new software: A personal retrospective
When I was in college, I took an on-campus job in my college’s computer lab that I still consider to this day to be a very formative experience. The director of the computer lab helped me discover the technology chops that I still carry me to this day. He had a penchant for scouting student… Continue reading Learning new software: A personal retrospective
Simple guidelines for running technical document reviews remotely
With some clear expectations and a little planning upfront, running remote writing and document review projects can go smoothly. Here are some lessons I learned when I was a freelancer about running remote writing and editing projects:
