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Subject:Re: On degrees and the like... From:"Victoria Thomas" <Thomas -at- firsttrust -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Thu, 30 Mar 2000 11:33:28 -0700
>>> "Locke, David" <dlocke -at- bindview -dot- com> 03/28/2000 1:23:58 PM >>>
One of the problems with the TW industry is that we do not hire people if
they need OJT. Getting an entry-level job is something best obtained from an
IT contractor. Managers of documentation departments of anything but huge
corporations don't hire to train. "Not on my dime," is an expression I hear
a lot. >>>>>
I have to disagree. My company prefers to hire at the entry-level for three reasons.
1) Hiring at the entry-level, allows us to select individuals with desire and aptitude "groom" a TW for our specific needs---from policies and procedures to user help text to intranet web page devcelopment.
2) As a financial company, our salaries are on the lower side of average, and this allows us to attract newbies more easily than experienced TWs.
3) We provide considerable OJT, but we feel that if we can get two to three productive years from the individual, we have gotten a fair return.
We do not like to lose these trained individuals, but this would happen even if we were hiring more experienced writers or paying high-average salaries. These individuals are usually looking for new challenges or experiences, which have little to do with the salary range.
Victoria L. Thomas
I.S. Documentation Project Lead
(303) 293-2223 Extension 2920
vthomas -at- firsttrust -dot- com
