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Subject:Technical Writer Title From:Laura Bean Warner <laura -dot- bean -at- DELTEC -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 2 Jun 1997 08:41:44 -0500
<I'm wrapping the contents of my portfolio, and just realized I better
get
myself a business card. I'm wondering what to call myself.>
I just wanted to warn that there are industry-specific definitions for
some of the suggested titles. I have been called Documentation
Specialist, Knowledge Engineer, and Technical Writer. In my experience,
Documentation Specialist, within the medical device or drug manufacture
industries, is usually in the Quality Assurance Department and involves
controlling, editing, filing of documentation used in the manufacture of
the product. It is usually more of a paper-pushing position that a
skilled, involved, communications one.
I was a Knowledge Engineer for a company in the business of connecting
people and information through a call-in service or through a
subscription to a search system. I helped build the database that
created links between literature and industry experts. I wrote
definitions to technical terms, wrote Boolean-language searches, and
created links between concepts. So, it was a position involving
writing, but a very specific kind.
I am currently called a Technical Writer in the Regulatory Affairs
Department of a medical device manufacturer, and I create the labeling
for the finished goods.
In short, be sure that in your efforts to describe yourself, you do not
sell yourself short or otherwise misrepresent what you do. I would
stick to Technical Writer, since it is becoming a more well-known title
that speaks for itself. Besides, I don't know too many titles that
truly and completely describe what people do; it's just a broad category
to start from. We may be interfering with communication if we call
ourselves titles for which no one knows the definition.
Laura Bean Warner
Technical Writer
Saint Paul, Minnesota
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