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Subject:RE: Should we hire this guy? From:Dave Neufeld <Dave_Neufeld -at- spectrumsignal -dot- com> To:"'jarnopol'" <jarnopol -at- interaccess -dot- com>, Dave Neufeld <Dave_Neufeld -at- spectrumsignal -dot- com>, TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 5 Jun 2000 12:02:01 -0700
jarnopol wrote:
JN: First, can you spare the time to teach this person how to write
technical
documentation?
DN: Probably easier than teaching someone else engineering or software
development. This is why I'm recruiting the technical colleges and
universities for engineering and comp sci graduates. For this stuff, the
assumed knowledge is a universty degree in electrical engineering or
computer science, plus experience with DSP products.
JN: I take it then that this person is an English major who had
given no thought to entering the tech writing field.
DN: No, this is a computer systems grad with a specialty in digital
processing. Understands many of the technical concepts that will be thrown
at him, and has the foundation to learn more.
JN: If this is also a question of budget, please remember that you get what
you
pay for. If I were in your shoes, I'd look for a temp-to-perm experience
technical writer from a reputable agency.
Haven't been impressed with agency writers in our region. All recruiters I
talk to say something like, "wow, you're going to have a tough time finding
a person". It's because this stuff assumes a substantial technical
background. The audience is very specialized. As the saying goes " It's
tough to find good help these days".
Anyhow thanx for your input. it's helpful!
David Neufeld
dave_neufeld -at- spectrumsignal -dot- com
Spectrum Signal Processing, Inc.
