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Re: 12 High-Paying Jobs For People Who Don't Like Math
Subject:Re: 12 High-Paying Jobs For People Who Don't Like Math From:Keith Hood <bus -dot- write -at- gmail -dot- com> To:shawn -at- cohodata -dot- com Date:Mon, 10 Mar 2014 20:40:44 -0500
Really? When did that happen? My comment was meant to indicate I had
never worked in places where documentation was likely to include a lot of
calculations, like load bearing. I've always been expected to have to do a
lot of fact checking. Getting a technical review from the SMEs usually
took a court order, a squad of Marines, and the hand of God squashing
something nearby to make the point.
On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 7:08 PM, Shawn <shawn -at- cohodata -dot- com> wrote:
> >I've never worked on anything involving aircraft, space, flight, or
> ballistics.
>
> And in situations like that, it is *never* the tech writer's job to
> confirm the math or other values for accuracy. The SMEs should be the only
> people to sign-off copy.
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 4:35 PM, Keith Hood <bus -dot- write -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>
>> My experience is very similar to Shawn's. In every job I've ever had,
>> math has always been an extremely *tiny* part of the work. Every now and
>> then I may need to check formulae, like in an installation guide where it
>> shows how to calculate the amount of disk space needed for a software
>> package and the log files that are produced during operation. I've never
>> worked on anything involving aircraft, space, flight, or ballistics. I've
>> also never had to work with engineering analyses.
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 1:36 PM, Shawn <shawn -at- cohodata -dot- com> wrote:
>>
>>> I think there is some confusion about what tech writing is all about.
>>>
>>> Tech writing and tech writers are as diverse as the whole field of
>>> writing.
>>> My experiences:
>>> - Documentation where my sole responsibility was to describe products,
>>> their actions, and customer interactions. Absolutely no math required.
>>> - Documentation which was simply a 'prettier' regurgitation of engineer's
>>> writing. Absolutely no math required.
>>> - For a while I worked for a statistical software company. In order to
>>> write up valid exercises, I did require rudimentary knowledge in stats
>>> (first time this part of my university education was recalled). Some
>>> stats
>>> math was required.
>>> - My current tech writing job is more do-it-yourself work where I am
>>> responsible for interpreting technical notes and self-discovering the
>>> equipment and software. Some general arithmetic/math is helpful.
>>> BTW, I was hired for my current position mainly because I have a highly
>>> technical background.
>>>
>>> So, to claim that tech writers require or do not require math is quite a
>>> generalization because this field is quite diverse. However, there are
>>> commonalities such as... we are all creative, problem solvers with an
>>> interest in taking something relatively complex and breaking it down,
>>> organizing the information, and making it easy to understand to different
>>> target audiences. Oh yes, we enjoy writing! That is essential! :)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Dec 24, 2013 at 5:19 PM, Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> wrote:
>>>
>>> > Where does one find the technical writing job where math isn't
>>> required?
>>> > I've never had one.
>>> >
>>> > Gene Kim-Eng
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On 12/24/2013 12:09 PM, Craig Cardimon wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Interesting. Note Job #1.
>>> >>
>>> >> http://www.chron.com/jobs/article/12-High-Paying-Jobs-
>>> >> For-People-Who-Don-t-Like-Math-5088181.php
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >
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>>>
>>> --
>>> *Shawn Connelly*
>>> Technical writer
>>> shawn -at- cohodata -dot- com
>>> <http://www.cohodata.com> <https://twitter.com/cohodata>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>
>
> --
> *Shawn Connelly*
> Technical writer
> shawn -at- cohodata -dot- com
> <http://www.cohodata.com> <https://twitter.com/cohodata>
>
> 1490 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V6H 1H5
>
>
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