Formulating an Opinion (formerly Ending the Madness)

[Maurice King <benadam -at- CYBERDUDE -dot- COM>]

I want to thank the others who gave me considerable insight into the conditions that prevail in the world of contracting in North America.

Realize that although I was born and educated in the U.S., the extended stay abroad certainly caused me to lose touch with what goes on here. I had a gut feeling for some time that my lack of savvy in the local scene had made me easy prey; however, my rather razor-sharp way of expressing my opinions indicated to others that I was not about to become a doormat. Apparently in the contract that I accepted, they were looking for a worker on an assembly line, and they told me that eventually; however, I don't accept the fact that I heard the truth after almost two months on the job! My résumé was most emphatic that I was looking for a job with a company that values creativity and initiative; in the contract that I took, these words have absolutely no meaning whatsoever. When I discovered the error, I lost no time in letting the powers that be know that THEY made the error in overlooking something that was stated clearly on my résumé. I said it with such force that it sent them runn!
ing back to check the copy that they received. Sure enough, that statement wasn't included in the copy sent to them. Not only that, but they only looked at the work I had already done, without reviewing a single sample of my work. So many companies whine that writers don't present portfolios, but when a writer comes prepared and the company doesn't sniff at the portfolio, the writer has every right to blast the hiring company that later comes with accusations that the writer isn't adjusting to the job.

I don't want to exclude myself from blame in this situation. I needed work. I was new in the country. The job offer came through. However, if someone had told me what I would be doing, I would have prepared myself for it. Nobody did. I was led off to a non-functional work station that did not have most of the software that I would need. I was given mountains of books dealing with style and conventions and instructions in a rather esoteric tool that no other company on earth uses (I think I just disclosed the company in question in saying that). When the source material for the manual that I was to write arrived, there was a lot to do with it; the first task was to convert the existing material into the format of the editing tool in use, and that in itself was nothing trivial. However, when I was asked to submit a draft, I naively thought that I would receive some idea as to how the process in the company worked, because no two companies work the same way. That was my first mis!
take; I was supposed to ask everything before I started. However, it may be me, but I think that a person who has just walked into a hyperstructured corporate environment cannot know all the questions that need to be asked. At this point, the beginning of the end had just taken place; I was being bashed hourly for not asking the right questions when I was basically flooded with issues that were unfamiliar to me.

If a software company had hired me to document a software application in development, this scenario would never have happened. If a company dealing in wireless communications had done the same, I would have been up to speed in no time. Here, however, I was documenting a product that was so very esoteric that there was no previous documentation, even within the manufacturing company, of the sort of document I was being asked to write, only, as I was told later, I wasn't writing anything, only putting texts together. That's what I was told, but it wasn't true; I could see from the texts that extensive editing was also necessary, but I was told that I shouldn't take anything out because I didn't know the product well enough.

Does ANY of this make any sense to anyone? I asked why I was brought on for this project if clearly I had insufficient background to do it! That, I discovered, was inappropriate; I wasn't supposed to ask such a question because the company was always right. Yeah, sure, and I sang in the Vienna Boys Choir! I didn't hide my distaste, and I did detect some slight sense from the company that maybe I still had to grow into the job, but by this point, I didn't WANT to grow into the job! I wanted OUT, big time!

Any number of things could have generated this situation, but as a recent returnee to North America, I was busy making major adjustments in my life without having my line of work redefined before my eyes. I've been on TECHWR-L for years, and I've seen that what I did before returning was very much in line with what others in the field have done; therefore, I wasn't prepared to be told that I had to forget about being creative or original, only to drop texts into place when I could see that doing so would not do the job adequately!

After having seen this Kafkaesque scenario, I decided to go ONLY for a job that really sounded like fun. When I say "fun," I mean doing what I do well and enjoy doing. That's probably one of the things that the company that took me couldn't understand: that I really ENJOY my work! Then I realized: they probably stuck me on that manual to get me accustomed to the galley-slave
mentality that they maintained in the department. It made no sense that they were out looking for other technical writers with my qualifications to do work that needed to be done in the company while they forced me to work on something for which I was clearly ill suited, but that only bothered me.

I've learned my lesson from that experience and won't make the same mistake again. Apparently interviewing has to be a two-way street a lot more than many people think. I've learned to see beyond the painted smiles of the interviewers; if even one question rings false, it's a sure sign that the expectations of the hiring company do not match what I can offer and want to see happen.

Fortunately, this experience is coming to an end. I'll never forget it, though. I guess that during the years when I was self-employed and was involved directly with my clients, I never had to get caught up in the issues of company policy to the extent that I was this time. It has been an eye-opener for me, and many of you were very helpful in assisting me as I formulated my own opinion of the situation. For that, I thank you sincerely.

- Maury K.

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