Re: Help -- staffing issues

["Race, Paul" <pdr -at- CCSPO -dot- DAYTONOH -dot- NCR -dot- COM>]

Paula Reynolds was soliciting opinions on how to proceed in a situation
where the other writer has been out "sick" for nine months, so she can't
hire somebody, but she's doing 2.5 people's jobs (her message attached).....

Paula, have you investigated getting a contractor, somebody who can work for
you full time right now (hired on, say, a six-month contract), but who would
be willing to work for you flex-time later if you needed them.  This is
fraught with dangers, of course, as you might get the person trained, then
they might get another job they like so well that they'll refuse to
"moonlight" for you later.  So you will have to be careful to explain all
this in the interview, that you need somebody full-time for the short term
but you would like that person to be available to help with little jobs on a
week-to-week basis (I assume you're talking evenings and weekends here)
afterword.  Obviously nobody is going to come to work for you now as a
contractor or other wise, then let you lay them off when the other person
comes back, then gladly come back in for a few days here and there......  If
you really want to have this semi-employee floating around, you have to
consider that their next full-time job will be their priority, so all you
will have is their word that they'll pitch in and help you out from time to
time.

Another possibility could be investigating the graduate writing programs at
area universities, hiring a "co-op," or two or three (for slave wages, of
course), then using them on a week-by-week basis after you have them up to
speed - building your own "pool" of writers, so to speak.  Unfortunately
training somebody from the word "go" (and a lot of college writing programs
do not really create professional writers, so there will be training issues)
may take all of your time while you're in the initial phases.

If I was in your shoes and couldn't hire a full-time writer, I would opt for
the contractor.  After all, if the contractor is any good, and your other
person doesn't come back you can renew the contract or make them a job offer
when the contract expires.

BTW, if you've been killing your self to keep up with what is really a two
or three-person work load (being a good company employee, etc.), and giving
your employer (who doesn't understand technical writing all that much) the
idea that it's really a one-person job, you may have trouble selling any of
these solutions.  It's one thing to do two or three persons' work for a few
days or weeks if there's a real crisis (and health issues can constitute a
crisis).  But when something's been going on for nine months, and you're
still pinch hitting for the other person, you're doing yourself, your
employer, and even the person whose work load you assumed a disservice.


Also, don't let your background keep you from treating yourself like a
professional and keep you from demanding help when you need it (and it
sounds like you DO need it).  I can pretty well guarantee that your boss
(not the one in the hospital) has even less experience in technical writing
than you do, and he needs your professional input (whether he needs it or
not).

As for the rest, welcome to the world of professional technical writing.  We
all started somewhere, and only a small minority were actually "schooled" in
this stuff before we picked up the pen (or wordprocessor, as it were).

Best of luck.  -paul -dot- d -dot- race -at- daytonoh -dot- ncr -dot- com
 ----------
From: TECHWR-L
To: Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L
Subject: Help -- staffing issues
Date: Tuesday, October 18, 1994 4:56PM

Folks,

Where to begin?  From the beginning, I suppose.  I'm a technical writer
for a manufacturing firm.  I don't have a background in either tech
writing or engineering, but here I am.  I was hired and was "trained"
(yep, it should be in quotes) by an older gentleman who'd been doing this
for 15 years.  Now, he's a nice man, but he didn't have much experience
in training another person in *technical writing*.  For example, we have
no style book.  Every manual looks similar, but different, since we have
no procedures or work instructions anywhere.  So my training was pretty
haphazard.

After 7 months, the gentleman had some health problems and went into the
hospital.  For the past 9 months, I've been on my own, muddling through
as best I can.  My advantage is that I'm a pretty quick worker, so I've
met all the deadlines for the past 9 months.

However, we're starting into a major crunch time.  I've been
quasi-promoted, so now I'm responsible for both technical writing and any
and all documentation issues in my department (which is evolving into the
company, it seems).  We're developing several new products that need new
documentation; we're developing all sorts of projects than need my input;
and my boss has given me the orders:  Find help.

I feel at a disadvantage in a couple areas.  First, I'm not sure how to
handle this situation.  The other technical writer could *theoretically*
return to work at any time, so we're not hiring someone.  What we want is
someone to come in and learn the way we do things (maybe 4-6 weeks of
training) and then be available to do work on an as-needed basis.  Does
this seem feasible?

Second, I'd like guidelines on *how* to hire a writer.  How do I evaluate
from their resumes/samples?  I've never taken a writing/editing test, so
I wouldn't know where to begin in designing one (and I also don't have
the time).

Any suggestions to follow, resources to check,  or war stories to comfort
me would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Paula Reynolds
Hi-Speed Checkweigher
paular -at- hispeed -dot- mhs -dot- compuserve -dot- com