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NEWS- Adobe Release Technical communication Suite-2019 Adobe released a new version of the technical communication suite. Last week I was introduced to it in a partner program and found it impressive. A lot of improvements are in the FrameMaker. Hopefully, this release will be a game changer for the Adobe and will make the life of technical writers easier. Professional writers will be able to generate output fast and will able to produce more customized content. Use this link to download free tail, join webinars and find yourself what is new in this release. It was fun to be the part of AdobeDay 2018 at Bangalore What is a help authoring tool? A Help Authoring Tool or HAT is a software tool used to create, manage, and publish all Online or Offline business-critical documentation. Example of HATs- Adobe RoboHelp, Madcap Flare, AuthorIT, HelpNDoc, etc. Help authoring tool are an integral part of the technical writer's toolbox. I do not see it fading anytime soon. Knowledge of at least one help authoring tool is compulsory for technical writers and content writers. Basic features of Help authoring tools If you are new to the field of technical writing, consider reading our introductory guide for technical communicators. Input Help authoring tools obtain their source text either by importing it from a file produced by another program or by allowing the author to create the text within the tool by using an editor. File formats that can be imported vary from HAT to HAT, though they can include such formats as HTML, OpenOffice Writer, and Microsoft Word, and compiled Help formats such as Microsoft Compressed HTML. Output The output from a Help authoring tools can be either a compiled Help file in a format such as Microsoft Compiled HTML Help (*.CHM) or non-compiled file formats such as Adobe PDF, XML, HTML, JavaHelp, EclipseHelp and so on...    Help authoring tools Beyond Help Most help authoring tools provide extra functions such as:  Automatic or assisted Index generation  Automatic Table of Contents  Spelling checker   Image editing   Image hotspot editing     Why do you need help authoring tool? Authoring and content reuse. Reduce Authoring time & Cost. Importing and Publishing. After a document is finished, reviewed and approved, we can quickly produce: Print/PDF Web (Context Sensitive help) Help XML DITA   List of Help authoring tools I can bet you will be surprised to know that in the market there are more than twenty help authoring tools providers. How many of them do you know, try to recollect the name before you proceed? Here is the list of more than 20 best help authoring tools : Adobe RoboHelp          One of the best tools, recently RH-17 is released. This is one of the most widely used help authoring tools. You can watch the latest RoboHelp capabilities on our YouTube Channel. MadCap Flare-Respectively new to RoboHelp, but equally effective. AuthorIT- This component authoring tool is a robust alternative to RoboHelp.  WinCHM Doc-To-Help HelpNDoc-  This is free for personal use. Now part of Madcap Flare. Helpinator Dr.Explain   -This is available in 9 languages. HelpConsole HelpServer Help & Manual HelpSmith HelpScribble HelpStudio Doc-O-Matic-  Version7 is available. I have used this tool for writing API tool, later switch to swagger. FarHTML Help Generator HyperText Studio HelpMapper Precision Helper Sandcastle-    It is a documentation generator from Microsoft that automatically produces MSDN style reference documentation. Shalom Help Maker Helpmatic Whatfix If I'm missing any help authoring tools, kindly let me know. Unbiased Comparison of  Help authoring tools A downloaded trial version of all four software packages (RoboHelp, Flare, Author-IT, and HelpNDoc).Compared and evaluated them based on several factors including my personal experience with the program; program size; learning curve; user interface and usability; and bug encounters.   Used the trial version Learned and compared features Match with our requirements, resource, and expertise Ask for demo and price quote       Comparison Brief Before Comparison get sure your parameter because there are many parameters to compare like context-sensitive help, content management, Import feature, support workflow, price, hyperlinks, single sourcing features and more.... One of my clients, he was majorly concerned with the Simple features, Price, and support.     Recommendation:   After reviewing the four programs, I recommend Adobe RobrHelp.  The easy user interface and excellent tutorial were by far the best of the four tools I used.   It is easy to use, cost-effective and people are willing to sell it, and I found Adobe very prompt in replying mail and solving quires. Adobe sponsors and hosts a lot of webinars for information sharing.   Like any tool, it can be learned and used. A lot of free resources are available. Finding and hiring RoboHelp expert is never a challenge.   You can learn more about the HAT comparison. Other good resources you can consider to read. Which authoring tools do you need? You are the perfect person to answer which tool is best for you. Before jumping to the conclusion or asking anyone about the best HAT, please do keep these things in mind. About Your Authoring Environment  1. What operating system do you use? 2. How many authors are--or will be--working on the project? 3. If the content already exists, what format is it in-- (i.e., Word, FrameMaker, HTML)? 4. Do you use any  Help authoring tool(s) y? 5. How familiar are you with HTML, CSS? 6. Do you have any budget constraints? (i.e., how much can you spend on a help authoring tool?) About Your Help System:  1. How will the Help be delivered? Will it be printed, installed locally on users' machines, or delivered on the Internet or enterprise intranet? 2. Do you need to deliver your content in multiple formats--for example, print or PDF and HTML Help? 3. Do you have any special look and feel requirements? 4. Do you need to create context-sensitive Help? 5. What operating systems do your users use? If you identify your need, you will be able to choose your dream tool for online

Best Metrics for Annual Appraisal/Review of Technical writers In the office, I hate doing three things firing, interviewing, and appraisal. Unfortunately, these are an integral part of people management and we have to live with them. Can we make the appraisal process stress-free? Through this post sharing my views on the appraisal process and the parameters to be considered while appraising technical writers. Hope this can help you to set your goal as a technical writer. This is a very vast topic to discuss, so this post is limited in scope and depth. Most of my HR friends admit that they never find perfect metrics or parameters for any role which can satisfy both employee and employer during the evaluation process. The surprising fact revealed, according to a recently released survey by the Society of Human Resource Management and Globoforce, an employee recognition company nearly half of human resources managers don’t think annual performance reviews are accurate appraisals of employee performance During Chanakya era (2000B.D) doctors would puncture their patients’ veins and let them bleed out in order to rid them of their diseases. Today we laugh at the practice of bloodletting. I’m sure our future generation will come up with some new formula (or maybe it is existing I’m not aware) and laugh at ours, but we have to face appraisal as it is one of the necessary evils of the company.   Why I don’t like to do the appraisal? Few things which I never able to understand and still searching for answers. Do you have it?  5 Point Someone: How can I measure myself on a scale of 1-5? I believe 5 can be assigned to Lord Krishna, not to me. Why these processes of appraisal happen once in a year, half-yearly or even quarterly: My manager has a bad memory he forgets what I did ten months earlier. Why matrices are so generalized for technical writers, where shorter is better. How can we do the appraisal on the basis of a 10-20 odd objective that is vague and subjective? Why most appraisal matrices revolve around writers’ attributes while their effectiveness is almost ignored. Basic appraisal metrics for a technical writer An appraisal is a very delicate issue, and setting detailed, measurable, holistic, and well-considered objectives, in the beginning, is very critical. The following are samples of rating factors and example standards taken from a variety of sources for a technical writer. Please feel free to combine or modify them to fit your needs. The below list is indicative only, however, if you can be specific and tailor expectations and results to custom fit your team, by all means, that is the perfect way to go. The toughest part is coming up with specific and correct ways to measure these parameters, those are very much variable by the organization and role. Broadly dividing the attributes into four competence: Project  Execution Competence Knowledge/Functional competence Behavior competency Management competency Task/Core/Project execution Competence Dependability/Initiative Tool Knowledge Language Knowledge Timeliness in Deliveries Productivity Knowledge/Functional competence Subject knowledge Technical competence Process compliance Understands requirements Ability to capture technical depth accurately Feedback from tech / editorial reviews / clients Develops and implements new solutions, procedures, and concepts Demonstrates accuracy, thoroughness, and reliability Pays attention to detail The quantity of Work The volume of work produced by the employee, along with his or her speed, accuracy, and consistency of output. Produces necessary results in spite of unforeseen changes Alerts appropriate team member if deadlines need to be re-negotiated to accomplish work with higher priority Behavior competency Communication Skills – Oral communication/Body Language – The effectiveness of written communications (emails, status reports…) Self Development – Enhancing Product and Domain knowledge – Training and development (passionate about continuous learning) Adaptability: Efficiency with which employee works under stress and responds to change. Assertiveness/Motivation Attendance Judgment Interpersonal Relations Management competency Problem Solving & Decision Making Clearly defines the responsibilities and authority limits of subordinates Makes effective assignments to subordinates based on demonstrated skills and knowledge. Motivates employees to think and work independently  Recognizes individual capabilities and assigns work accordingly Each of the above parameters can be given low to high ranking, which can be appropriately tweaked as per the seniority of the writers. For example, for a Junior writer, Management Skill maybe 5 or 10, while for a Doc Manager it can increase substantially. Let us make a culture where we sit to discuss regularly how to improve and avoid waste basically effective retrospective culture. Where is customer satisfaction? Ooops!!! I might be missing many, Please let me know in the comment.

How to estimate the rate for freelancing writing projects? Undoubtedly freelancing gives you priceless freedom of working and choosing your type of work, boss-free life, work from anywhere but it brings a lot of responsibilities and should be done with the discipline to be your own boss. My first triage with cost estimation as a consultant: 🤔 The year 2008, my client asked me how much you will charge? Hmm, I can complete this work in 1.5 days and I m earning 30k/mo so 1k will be the correct figure. If I ask for more he may not give this project to me and finally, after deep thinking  I quote INR999. Do you think it was the correct approach? NO-It was a disaster even he sign 5 more projects with me. To estimate the per hour rate for a freelancing project is one of the trickiest questions that come to our mind before taking any consultancy project? Continue reading otherwise your situation will be something like mine 🙂 🔥Not only in technical documentation, but you also face similar trouble in any freelancing work. In this blog post, I have written 💯 about the significant challenges and solutions for freelancing cost estimations. Share your experiences about cost estimates in the comment section. How to estimate the per hour rate for freelancing technical writing project is one of the tricky questions that come to the mind before taking any technical documentation project. Not only in technical documentation, but you also face similar trouble in any freelancing writing assignments like content writing, medical writing, and blogging. In one of my blog posts, I have written about the significant challenges of freelancing. Read the post before you foray into technical writing. I do not oversell freelancing for technical writers because freelancing work is limited in technical writing. You will get plenty of work in content writing, resume writing, Generally you will get contract technical writing work n which client will ask to write from client premise. There are many calculators available to calculate per hour rate for a freelancing project, but I firmly believe that you are the best person to judge “What should be your value”. In our content charcha (webinar) we recently invited Scheely to talk about her journey of freelancing. You can enjoy the recording of the webinar. Yes, there are many parameters which you should take into consideration before you fix your freelancing price. Pricing is one of the crucial aspects of any right business price that can win or lose you a project. Read “Pros and Cons of Contract Technical Writer Work” consider the points mentioned in it before doing any math for your rate. Math for calculating the hourly price for content freelancing work Simple maths you can do is take your monthly gross salary before deductions, round it up to an even number, and divide by 176 (the average hours per month,22×8). Suppose you want to earn INR 100000/month. In this case divide 100000/176=568.18. So, you should never ask anything less than INR 750 after negotiation you can quote a minimum INR 600. I will suggest quoting INR 1000 because you cannot work for 8 hours and many unseen issues can do your math wrong. Keep reading to know those unseen issues. By now your freelancing resume is ready and shortlisted by the client. If you want to learn about freelancer resume consider reading. Hope you get a rough estimate but before finalizing the rate consider the few points also. Points to consider for estimating the freelancing price of writing work- How many of your daily working hours are billable? How many days off do you need for holiday.s, sick days, and personal days each year? How much vacation time do you want each year? The number of visits and duration of meetings with the client. Make sure who is going to pay for this. Travel cost, phone bills, and courier charges if any. Investment in hardware, software, electricity, Internet bill even on coffee or water. Insurance cover, EPF, marketing, promotions, taxes, etc. Be ready for the negotiation, so always have Negotiation buffer. The duration of the project also matters. You can reduce the hourly rate for larger assignments. What kinds of documents will you be writing? Online help, Print docs, Web articles, Newsletters, Website content etc…? What kind of skill set is required? General or Rare? How desperately you want this project. Is it going to be an entry for you in a new line of business? If yes, quote less. Your existing or future relationship with the client. What is your expertise and experience level and how clients value that? Marketing expense. Like chasing the client, writing emails etc. You can get good freelancing work from the website like Upwork, e-lance,freelancer.com, etc. You can also contact agencies like Technowrites, Commit, ibruk etc. I got my first work through my friend Jeno Joy who was working with Dots consultancy in Mumbai (W). His company was in need of a freelance content writer and my journey started. It was the year 2008. Conclusion In freelancing it is also very important to estimate the time. If you have a correct estimation of time, you very quickly calculate the cost. Do not forget to fix the payment terms and conditions like advance and full payment duration. The client may ask for GST and invoice. So be ready with all these. Acceptance criteria and definition of done should be clear. How the quality of content will be measured and how many times you will rewrite the content should be clear during price and time fixation. Read how to estimate the time for a freelancing writing project. Always keep adjusting your fee, after all, you deserve increment:-). I’m eager to listen to your freelancing story please share in the comment.

 Challenges of doing Freelance Content Writing  Freelancing is the best way to be your own boss and manage your life the way you want it to be. The sky is the limit in freelancing and every opportunity has its own challenges. In this post, I’m discussing the pros and cons of freelancing as a content professional based on my personal experience. I believe pros and cons are the respective words, what are pros for me can be cons for you and vice verse. It is up to you decide what is going to be pros for you and cons. Most of us believe that staying home and working is the best job in the world.  When you decide to work from your home there will be good and bad things about it, but there are good and bad things when working in a brick and mortar office too. Things will not always be smooth and problem free, that is just part of life. List of pros and cons  I can remember doing contract/freelancing You will have to do sales and marketing job as well i.e to keep getting a contract to keep you fully occupied. This may include writing and replying emails, some cold calls, reply to the calls etc. Keep in mind of these hours when you are determining your per hour rate. The big challenge for contracting is the uncertainty of getting the next contract. But in some situations, having a so-called “full-time job” really isn’t much more secure than contracting. Who the heck have secure jobs these days? You will have to be a Doc manager also to negotiate important factors like cost and time. The client will always love to get work done at the minimum cost in minimum time with the best quality. So, you should have great negotiating skill. You will have to manage your taxes or hire a good consultant for calculating your business-related expenses and taxes. You will have to be your legal manager. Read carefully consulting contract and before signing MOU and NDA be sure to contract build is not one-sided. Many time requirements for product change and so the product. Sometimes you may have to do lots of re-work without pay if your contract is not in place. Try to get a freeze version and any charge for anything diverting from it. In nutshell, your contract should have all. Sometime client may ask you to use your hardware and software for authoring, so have a licensed version of hardware and software what normally used for authoring and bill for it, if it is not a basic tool. You will be moving from one company to another frequently it is interesting but has its challenges. New people, new industries, new technologies. So, be ready for context hoping and do not let it reflect it in your writing.You may get a chance to work on varieties of projects the same day, you may end up working for the different company on a different tool for different kind of write-ups. So you can gain more knowledge. Some time payment may be delayed so have a sufficient backup.I must say have at least six-month backup. You need to maintain good PR, be courteous and professional, have a good sense of humour, be flexible, and always give more than is expected. Higher pressure as you are paid by the hour. You don’t work, you don’t get paid. So, always take the lean time into consideration when estimating your cost. For every client that pays you a reasonable hourly fee, there will be ten who expect you to work for pennies (or worse, for free). Be careful in choosing your client. Sometimes contract terminate in between there can be many reasons for that, so better be prepared for this kind of situation as well. Always add notice period clause in your contract. Your work can imbalance your work and personal life if you allow. As a freelancer due to uncertainty unknowingly we commit more than we can do in working hours. This lead to extra work hour and danger of this is that you will soon exhaust. To avoid communication problem get very specific and detailed instruction from the client. You can schedule the demo for review between development process. There is no one who tells you to start working when you do not feel like to. So you need a lot of self-discipline. For technical writing /content writing service and training contact Information Developers Foundation, New Delhi.Call 7840741999

Books for Technical Writers Recently I saw a very informative and interesting discussion “Appropriate Books for Technical Writer” on one of the Technical Writer Forum started by Quan li ,a student from China.  This is one of the frequently asked questions on the different forum in different way, so thought to compile comments for myself and visitors of my blog for future references. I have posted the comments as it is because i fear by simply listing the books name i may lose the essence which is created by complete discussion.  —————————————————————————————————————————– Hello, everyone. I am a technical writer and trying to know more about the career. I’ve collected some books for technical writers, but I don’t know which one is better, could you give me some suggestions?  The books are as follows:1.BBC – New Writing Style Guide 2.English for Writing Research Papers 3.Grammatically Correct The writer’s essential guide to punctuation spelling style usage and grammar 1997 1 4.Microsoft Press – Microsoft Manual Of Style For Technical Publications 3Rd Edition Microsoft 5.Technical Writing – Manual Of Style6.The Chicago Manual of Style. The Essential Guide for Writers Editors and Publishers 15th ed 2006 7.The Online English Grammar 8.The Web Content Style Guide. An Essential Reference for Online Writers Editors and Managers 9.Writing In English A Practical Handbook for Scientific and Technical Writers10 “How to Write a Computer Manual: A Handbook of Software Documentation” by Jonathan ———————————————————————————————————————– John Sarra •Qian, I would suggest you do a search on Amazon.com for “Technical Writing”. The books you list are mostly references. There are a number of books, such as “Technical Writing 101” that will also give you “how to” information. Read the reviews and see what others say. That will point you to books that may interest you.  ——————————————————————————————————————— Elizabeth Emerson •Definitely, if you have to select one, choose this one: *Microsoft Press – Microsoft Manual Of Style For Technical Publications 3Rd Edition Microsoft This is a standard style manual and a reference book that should be available in every technical writing department.Now 4th edition is also available.  ——————————————————————————————————– Adria Quinones •I also like Sun’s “Read Me First,” as a contrast to Microsoft’s Manual of Style. Note that Microsoft published their 4th ed. earlier this year. http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/book.aspx?id=150532 ———————————————————————————————————————– Robert Lauriston •Clear, concise, correct, and comprehensive. Is there a book that will teach a new writer why you need a style manual? I use Chicago, which is excellent, comprehensive, and available online. Since I’m in the software industry, I use the Microsoft Manual of Style, 4th ed., which you can get in a PDF, it’s not in the same league as Chicago but it’s the best and most comprehensive and up to date for software documentation (though useless for anything else). Neither will teach you anything about tech writing as a career. Don’t use a UK style manual (such as BBC) if you’re writing American English and don’t use a US style manual (such as Chicago) if you’re writing British / International English. ——————————————————————————————————————– Craig Cardimon •”The Insider’s Guide to Technical Writing,” by Krista Van Laan (XML Press, 2012), discusses tech writing as a career. I highly recommend it for describing the ups and downs of tech writing. ————————————————————————————————————————- Zvi Eynan •I would recommend “Handbook of Technical Writing” by Alred/Brusaw/OlioI little bit old fashioned but mostly usefulGo to amazon for more tittles ————————————————————————————————————————- Delio Destro •As a general guideline I like “Developing Quality Technical Information” ISBN 0131477498and of course, the bases of the basics: “The Elements of Technical Writing” ISBN 0020130856 ————————————————————————————————————————- Ed Mikula •Once you are comfortable stringing words together, you might read “Dynamics in Document Design” and The Elements of Typographic Style. ————————————————————————————————————————- James Barakaat •As a former Professor at Kaplan University, I recommend: Kaplan Technical Writing: A Resource for Technical Writers at All Levels [Paperback] Carrie Hannigan (Author), Carrie Wells (Author), Carolyn Stevenson (Author), Tanya Peterson (Author), Diane Martinez (Author). Also, Technical Writing 101: A Real-World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Documentation, Second Edition [Paperback] Alan S. Pringle I studied Technical Writing and Technical Editing at Miami University with Paul V Anderson who wrote: Technical Communication by Paul V. Anderson, 7th Edition. You can get them at Amazon.com ————————————————————————————————————————– Naci Simsek •If you have an apple device, you can also check for technical writing courses from ITunes U or either you can check wikiversity for the same topic. ————————————————————————————————————————– Dick Miller •For a focus on usability and the user experience (not often taught in tech writing classes), see STC Usability and User Experience Community’s Usability Bookshelf at http://www.stcsig.org/usability/resources/bookshelf/index.html. —————————————————————————————————————————— Mark Baker •All the best books for technical communicators to read are not about technical communications. I recommend: * Politics and the English Language, George Orwell* Everything is Miscellaneous, David Weinberger* Too Big to Know, David Weinberger* Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath* The Social Life of Information, Duguid and Brown ————————————————————————————————————————— Saul Carliner •If you are looking for books to strengthen your skills, you’ll need different books for different purposes. (1) Start with a general book that provides an overview of the process. Paul Anderson’s, Mary Lay’s, or William S. Pfeiffer’s books provide excellent introductions to the general field of technical writing, whether writing as a full-time professional writer or a technical professional like an an engineer or scientist who writes as part of his job. (2) Expand into books that provide an overview of technical communication from a communicator’s point of view. Although older, Barnum & Carliner’s Techniques for Technical Communicators still has some value. (3) Go deeper into writing, with books like Strunk & White’s Elements of Style and Williams’ and Columb’s lesser-known, but equally useful, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grade, the IBM book mentioned earlier, as well as books that focus on specific writing in specific genres (such as the book mentioned earlier on how to write a user manual or Horton’s or Carliner’s books on designing e-learning programs) and media (such as the second edition of Janice, Redish’s book on writing online content) (4) Develop skills

 How to Improve Technical Writer Resume/CV I saw this interesting and informative image “Difference between BioData, Resume, and CV” circulating on Facebook and thought to share with my friends and readers of this blog. One more view on the difference between Resume and CV: RESUME: Summary of your skills, experience, and education. It is mostly used to grab a job in the private sector. Usually contains descriptions of all positions held on the document and is therefore 1-2 pages long. Moreover, USA & Canada normally expect a RESUME from you. CV: The more detailed synopsis of your educational and academic background as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and other details, therefore is 2+ pages long. Popularly used in academia. Geographically also, UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia & Africa expect a CV from you. For a technical writer’s resume is always considered as a sample of work so take extra care while writing and sending it to the employer. Ultimately it answers the question of   your employer “Why do I want to hire you today?” The popular myth is that bigger the resume better it is. I differ from it. Primarily employers are interested to know do you have the necessary skill set, experience, and qualifications to do the task. The rest of details are merely tribal stuff like hobbies, objectives, summary etc. I will be happy if I do not find these sections in the employee resume, it saves my time. So make it clear what skill you possess (DITA, RoboHelp, Framemaker etc), experiences and where you gained it (Name of previous employer with duration you stay there, a project undertaken, technology and domain you worked) and qualifications. Do not write long stories, Keep it simple, short and concise. The larger agencies tend to search for candidates using computers – keyword search of their database. Like using skill, role, year of experience and domain expertise so include these information’s properly but please do not go mad at it. Few more tips: Give your email address a hyperlink, so with one click, the reader can email you. Put the Education section after the Professional Experience, since it is secondary in importance at this stage of your career. Under Professional Experience, you should have hyperlinks to the organizations’ websites. Under Computer Skills, you should indicate which versions of the tools you have experience with (for example, Robohelp8 or 10). Be consistent with your punctuation and grammar. Some lines end with periods while some do not. Technical writers notice these things also!Do not forget spelling mistake will kill you.Proofread and proofread again. For Technical writer Resume, contact www.informationdevelopers.in or call 7840841999

10 Interview tips for Technical writers and Content writers This is post is about dos and don’ts for the technical writers and content writer during the interview. Some talented individuals lose great opportunities just because of minor behavioral issues. May these 10 tips may help you to nail your next interview. I hate to take interviews but due to call of duty occasionally I have to do it. Why I hate traditional interview- I firmly believe our current interview process is not suitable to screen candidate and need complete 360-degree change. Interviewees can give rehearsed answers and interviewers are unconsciously biased to pick candidates whom they like rather than those with the most potential. Referer program is adding more complexity to the process. So far I have interviewed technical writing and agile coaches from different cities of India like Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, and Delhi, from different colleges, companies and experience level, sometimes even more experienced than me. In fact most of them were better than me it was only matter of time, luck or chance, but on the other hand, I also bumped with very weird or odd kind of candidates who was excellent as a resource but complete bizarre in their behavior.   Disclaimer: My only intention to write this blog is please avoid this kind of behavior to grab your dream job if you agreed with my opinion.   “YOU KNOW” Syndrome: One of the candidates scored very high in a writing test, but when I get a chance to meet, you know he expected me to know his father name to a permanent address. His every sentence was starting with YOU KNOW. Finally, I have to say I don’t know. Rotating chair: It was her final round, in the interviewing panel my HR Manager and Director of R&D was with me. An interview was going well, but her chair was rotating at 180 degrees. Believe me, it irritated all of us. Negative attitude toward the previous employer: Yes, we all look for good opportunity and we have our share of problems in the organization that sometimes force us to quit. But the attitude and the word chosen for the previous employer made us negative on her. Diplomacy is key. It’s OK to say that you’ve had disagreements with your boss and/or coworkers. Look cool attitude is not always cool: It’s good to be original, and truthful, but sometimes silence is wisdom. One guy arrived without a resume, reason? He does not have a printer, Cyber cafes were not open so early, Friday he returned late from office, Saturday went to resort with a girlfriend he was tired so he slept whole day and night on Sunday. So he was not able to take a print of his resume. I denied interviewing him, not because doesn’t have a resume, because…hope you can find an answer. I was looking for the serious candidates who are really in need of a job, not someone for whom this is just one more interview. I mean to say be serious with your approach. I’m not a fish trader: One gentleman was already working in one of the reputed organization and had two other good offers with decent increment want to check if I can pay more. Sorry, I do not promote this attitude. In the final round, he opens this truth that he got an offer letter from XYZ company can I prove to him that we are better paymaster. I send him to HR. Salary negotiation is not my job. Yo-Yo Honey Singh: The T-shirt you are wearing might be the best in your wardrobe, but I expect not to see you out-of-bed look or Yo-Yo look during the interview. No need to wear costly stuff be simple, clean, comfortable, and organized. Avoid fancy or party wear. Semi-casual is also fine. Fancy caller tune: Kindly take out your precious half hour out for me during the interview. Your fancy caller and going out to answer the call even to tell your friend that you are busy disturbs me. Mute options are available in cell phones. It is advisable to switch off or mute your phone. You and your resume are different: I really find very disturbing when people do not remember what they have written on a resume. Hard to believe when you are saying your experience is more than five years and your resume is screaming something different. Either you faked in Resume or your updated resume is not updated in both the cases I’m sorry dear. Learn to write a great resume. Be comfortable: I want you to be comfortable in the boardroom, but I also want to be comfortable. I really become uncomfortable when you start calling me Rah, Rak or something that you like rather than my original name “Rahul”. I too use slang’s with my friends in cricket ground but not in a boardroom. I do not like somebody invading my personal space. Be polite, soft, humble and formal with your language. Gum-Gum One candidate told me he has a habit of chewing gum during exam or interview, do I mind if he continues chewing it? He was honest, but what you would have done, mind it or ignore it? Avoid chewing gum, tobacco or anything during the interview. It is ok to take a cup of chai or coffee.  A Lesson to me: I was interviewing a beautiful lady with good skills and experience before wrapping up the interview I asked her when you are planning to marry? Will you change the city after marriage? She paused and replied Sir; do you ask this question to male candidate also? I told her this may be an unparliamentary question but….I explained why I asked this to her? It was a good take home for me. One more tip is to go through the website of the employer and try to learn there domain, expertise, and achievements. Read how to write a great resume. Need your view. Feel free to post your comment

Sasmita Panda wrote this guest post.She is a seasoned Information Developer, Content writer, and blogger. I invited her to share her experience on the primary skills required by information developers and she come up with a well knit blog for you. Read more blogs of Sasmita on TWIN  What are the qualities of a good technical writer? Mastering over the language or strong technical skills? The debate is constantly on. As per my experience, language is important, but it’s your acumen in technical skills which will take you higher in the long run. Strong writing skills along with deeper technical knowledge are always considered as added advantage. Understanding a product/application and documenting about it is what every technical writer does, but knowing about how to structure and present the information to various types of end-users is definitely a valuable skill. There are technical writers who are good in writing skills but poor in technical skills and vice verse. You can always work on the skills you lack, but I believe that honing technical skills takes longer time as compared to the writing skills. You don’t have to stupendous in your writing skills to be a good technical writer, but expertise in technical skills is a must especially if you want to grow in your career as a technical writer. Proficiency in technical skills has a growing demand in many industries these days. Knowledge of DITA, API Documentation or software programming can fetch you a better package than many of your experienced peers. So if you want to grow and make money as a technical writer, the choice is obvious- sharpen your technical skills. Related PostTwitter Vs FacebookBefore you foray into technical writingAfter you foray into technical writingJobsWhy Should you love book Please take out few minutes to write your view on Language Vs Technical Skills.

Qualities of good technical information A good document is a piece of information which help the reader to accomplish goal easily. Rahul Karn How to measure the quality of the document? How will I understand if my technical document is of top quality? These are a few questions which every technical writer ask to themselves or come across. One simple method, some tools give scorecard, readability score etc. So, to score well you must give a look at what parameters they consider giving you the score and start working to mastering those skills. In this post, we have touched the subject very briefly to give you a few pointers. It is recommended to develop a checklist and detail guideline as per your documentation requirements. To qualify as good technical documents which can help the user to accomplish goal easily documents must have the following qualities: Easy to use Easy to understand Easy to FInd What should be the qualities of good technical writing? We can measure the following parameters to establish it Grammer, style, and language (Easy to understand) Complete, clear, and correct Content (Easy to use) Topic/chapter organization (Easy to find) Correct use of visuals and media (Easy to understand and find) Retrievability (Easy to find) Cost effective (For stakeholders 🙂 To qualify for being a good technical document the minimum qualities required are given below. Many writers have penned their view on a good technical document, here are my two cent.: These are very high-level points which need to be breakdown further. If any document meet these parameters it is assumed micro parts are taken care of qualities of good technical writing Accurate Accuracy is the most important of the lot when it comes to qualities of good technical writing. Correct information.Many contracts have been lost just because of too many factual mistakes in the documentation. Get your drafts reviewed by people whose review is meaningful. Technical writing doesn’t allow to write your opinion, it is about facts. The facts should be clear irrespective of the kind of report: favourable or unfavourable. There should not be any false stories because it will question your credibility. Complete Don’t give an overview of procedures, if users need minute detail. Editing. Proofreading. Click to read the difference between Editing and Proofreading. Consistent Anytime you use a different word or term to refer to something you’ve already called by another name, you risk confusing the readers. There should not be any ambiguity and every sentence should have a single meaning. Clear Write clearly Use simple words and short sentences (KISS-Keep it simple) Clarity in the writing Useful Is it easy to learn? Is it efficient to use? Can a user recover quickly from errors? Is it easy to remember what to do? Is it fun to use? Does my document make it easy to find the information the user needs? (index, TOC) If the software has less-than-optimal usability, the documentation must try to make up for it. Documentation must also be tested. Attractive The document should be attractive to the eye. Effective use of visuals, gifs and media can do wonder. Readers resist reading what they don’t like to look at. Correct fonts, paragraph length, and styling can increase readability.  Navigation & Search The topics should be easily searchable. Readers must have the comfort to navigate easily in a document. If you are writing for search engines you must follow the google parameters for ranking.   Recommended read- Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors (3rd Edition) (IBM Press) Related Links: 5 best ways to provide writing samples NASA’s list of “Weak Phrases” for the technical documents Screen Capturing Tools

Major traits technical writers must have Two main traits that are must for you to be a successful technical writer (professional) is the ability to learn and the confidence- Rahul Karn   In this world, you will always have to challenge your ability, ability to write, ability to gather knowledge, ability to understand the application, ability to learn tools and many more abilities and above all self-belief and confidence that you have these abilities. Confidence that you have the ability to accomplish anything. Command on the language and tools are important but I feel correct attitude matters a lot, other skill can be learned on the job also- Rahul Karn   Many times a new project will be thrown on you without prior notice, proper knowledge transfer, training, manuals or study materials and process that too with a tight deadline and you have to do it because you have to deliver and you are paid for that. If you get bogged down by these kinds of challenges (opportunity) no matter how good a writer you are, you may have to taste the dust, but you take this as opportunity sky will not be the only limit.   In today’s environment where every day new technology becoming old, you will have to be on the toe to change with industry and stay ahead of the time. At least in the world of web, the successful technical writers (person) are those who can change with need and who thrive on the challenge of the new and untried.   How to cope with this? Keep updating yourself via a different social network, forums, friends, blogs and also try to attend and volunteer Information Developers Foundation conferences in your country and city. If you get a chance to take classes, go ahead and grab it this will give you immense confidence. Work in that area which keeps you haunted while performing your jobs may be some tool or even any soft skill.   Above all, I firmly believe in taking the bull from the horn. More you will challenge the technology more you will learn. Dip your toe in the water of technology you will learn it.   So, have the knowledge, be informed and wear confidence.   End of the day these are the unhidden source of your income. Related Links How to manage time between work and studies When determination meets fate Image Courtesy: Adobe video

Getting started into Technical writing   Now I am assuming you are a graduate and have the basic idea of what is technical writing and how it is different from other genres of writing. Maybe gone through formal training of Information Developers Foundation. I have noticed this type of queries from a newbie’s on any form of technical writing. So sharing some tips, old wisdom but a new chapter :-). I will also recommend you to read this technical writer guide before going ahead. Now it is time to “MARKET” your skills, for that you will need many tools like a resume, sample of your work, cover letter, feature article (if any), blog, letter of recommendation etc. Good Resume As a technical writer, it is expected for you to submit an error-free professional resume. Make sure your resume is free of grammatical errors, spelling mistakes or typo errors. If you cannot write a good resume how can you write a good technical document? I normally ask the technical writer during the interview “Can I assume your CV as your work sample” and then give it back to edit it. In hardly ten minutes I can judge many different qualities of aspirants. Prepare an error-free CV. Online CV should be the incorrect format. Do not name as resume.doc. The standard convention is to use your first initial, last name and the file extension. Do not assume the employer will have your resume; carry print copies with you.   Portfolio (Sample of Work) Many employers ask to submit your portfolio. Never include any work in your folio which is copyright protected or property of any organization, even if it is created by you. Try to showcase all your skills in a very concise but very smart way in your portfolio. Make an online as well as print copy. Get your folio edited by expert even if you are expert itself. Learn 5 best ways to provide writing samples Make a LinkedIn profile  A Linkedin profile adds credibility to your profile. Update it regularly to make yourself visible. It is also one of the best ways to connect with your peers and grow your network. You can also use it for job search and it also helps you to stand in the eyes of employers. As Linkedin profile has your detailed credentials it is more likely to get you relevant opportunities. It also helps you to interact with a large pool of people from the same domain. Premium subscription of job portals Don’t be the part of a huge recruitment funnel. Be filtered to increase your chance to get an interview call. A premium subscription of any job portal will help you to do that. You will get more relevant calls for a job. They provide you with resume templates, keep your profile on top to be more visualized and send you regular alerts so that you never miss any opportunity. Do not forget to visit our job board regularly. Network like a CEO Have you ever wondered how a CEO handle their business? A big empire is handled by a single person, it is only because of the huge network and connections they have. A bigger network gives you virtual hands to complete your task with more ease. A number of references come your way through networks, so work towards networking. Attend the seminars organized by different forums, webinars, local meetups, events like Information Developers conclave, be a part of it. Be vocal to show your presence. Show your skills where needed. Do not stop to network with your tribes even you get a job. Networking is a long-term effort. Consider helping people before asking for help. Contribute in the open source document To start as a fresher it becomes tough to show a sample of your work as the proof of your dexterity as a technical writer. Contributing in an open source document helps you compile a good number of sample to showcase it to your employer. A good example of the open source document is Git and Github. To know more see the video of the content charcha webinar by Amruta Ranade. Learn About Industry trends You should be aware of new trends in the industries. There are many ways to that, google search is good but apart from that join groups on many social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn etc, read blogs and comment, join technical writing forums. You can find many resources on this blog. Bookmark this blog and reading a post daily should be your habit. Learning is a continuous process. This is a very old wisdom and relevant for tech writing also. Yes, if you are not a dynamic learner you will not enjoy the journey of information development. It is expected from technical writer to understand the application quickly and develop information on it. If you work with contractors many days you may have to work on multiple projects. Enhance your communication, interpersonal and interviewing skills it will help you to gather information about the project. Consider relocation For your first job, be ready to relocate. A city with more opportunity will help you. If you are staying at a remote location, try to move for better opportunities. We all are connected to our hometown but for growth, if needed do not hesitate to do that. Opportunity in technical writing in Bangalore is more than Lucknow. Consider relocating to Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad or Delhi NCR for the better job opportunity as a technical writer. There are many things that can be covered, but currently, I am able to gather this much only I will keep on updating this. Do not forget to master Microsoft Manual of style. Conclusion We all know to get the first job is always challenging but smart work always win. Hopefully, the above pointers will help you to get into your dream job. If you want feedback on your resume or just want to say hi. Call me Now! Best of Luck! Rahul

  Screen Capture Tools: Yes, you can print screen manually on a window by using [ PrintScreen] key, but as an Information developer, you will need much more feature. There are a plethora of tools I am trying to compile few. SnagIt It is probably most widely used screen capture tools by writers. It has easy UI almost all the feature you need that too with a very competitive price. Madcap Capture Suits Madcap Flare user, well-priced, you may take a little extra time to get used to it. SnapDraw Freeware,  worth a try. FullShot Expensive than above all I standard edition some features are missing. Take care of this before purchasing the order. SCREENGRABBER.NET Free tool to capture screen from movies. EasyCapture The main feature is its ability to capture scrolling windows and adding annotations. It is provided to you free. Capture Me A  free and simple software for your Macintosh. Clarify-it Capture, sequence and annotate screenshots to create documents that are a great alternative to screen recordings Screenpresso.  It’s free and has some basic annotation and editing options. PicPick     It’s free A discussion on LinkedIn on the similar topic. Looking for training on Adobe RoboHelp, Framemaker or Technical writing? Information Developers offers live, online Adobe Tools classes each month. We can also bring the same great training onsite to your facility. Interested? Contact us for details. For more Info on the HAT.

How to start as a technical writer- My Journey It is was a regular working day in the office until I received a call !!! a call that suddenly dragged me a few years back when I was struggling to start my life, once again. Once again because after getting a fitness certificate post series of 3 major and few minor operations only in few years, now I was allowed to sit for few hours and travel without any support, but it was advisable to carry a stick to prevent undue pressure on the fractured fumer and tibia and the implant incorporated in it. After getting a wellness certificate a big question that bogs me down was “what next”? Being a pharma graduate I was supposed to join marketing, R&D, production but all of these options were closed for me because at that time I was not physically fit for any this job in a nutshell pharma sector had closed the door for me. “What next”? What to do? Back to college again for masters or MBA? Will after selling out a few lakhs and years companies will hire me? Not sure. Already my parents were in debt due to my operation and sister marriage, so how much it was prudent for me to bet on higher education. I was not sure, then start looking for industries which can hire me…in this quest my brother –in –law (jija ji) asked me “if you can write in times of India and win a bike, why don’t you take writing as a full-time career”. Not a bad idea!!! An idea can change your life, it was then he introduced me to one of his friend sister who was then a tech writer in Nokia. After talking to her I was fully convinced this is the field where I will get job satisfaction and my love for word will sure help me to excel in this field. Again the question remains the same where to start from? Series of phone calls to the friends, friends of friends, and their friends to get a clue what is technical writing is all about, eligibility, future, growth, and many other questions and after getting every question answered, the battle starts to find a good institution from where I can start my journey as a writer. Few good institutes were there in the town at that time I was in Bangalore but their fees were not affordable for me, finally joined a small but good institution. when my syllabus was about to finish I start looking for a job, get my resume done, posted on different job portals, and finally, I get a call for an interview CALL !!! Yes, call from the same company whose representative call me today and that call motivates me to write this blog but yes nature and tone of the call were different. I appeared but I failed in that interview. Today just after a few years when I got a call from the same company with the offering for the post of project manager with handsome increment, the condition was only to handle there telecom domain projects. They lured me with all possible means to relocate to Bangalore. I hope this happened just because of the blessing of parents, god grace, and probably my never to die attitude, determination to come out from spare to sunshine. I believe when one door is close 100 open probably I’m one classical example of it. My only motto to write this blog to stand with those friends who are down due to some of the reasons, it is not at all self-promotional.

Juggle between Work, Home, and Studies Are you a working professional or a freelancer and you are feeling your greatest potential stress is juggling your work, study, and personal commitment? Does it seem to you that twenty-four hours in a day is less to complete your tasks? Feel you are not doing justice with your work, studies, and with your near and dears? Believe me, this is the most common problem faced by working folk who is continuing his studies. Well through this blog I am trying to share a few of my and my friend’s experiences and ideas which we have while doing MBA, probably any of the ideas can be of your help. Since we all different, we will also have different balance needs and we discover this through experience and self-reflection. Striking balance between work and study is a journey in which you have to travel alone, you will have to set realistic goals and consistently work toward them blogs can only give you an idea but you are the one who has to tailor them to meet your own specific needs. My few ideas: Idea 1: Know yourself To study effectively and excel in the work simultaneously, it is important to manage your time well. Good time management evolves by knowing yourself well, knowing what are your strength and weakness’ in time management, and then minimizing the weakness’ and working toward the right goal. Yes, you get it right I am talking about SWOT analysis. Remember time management is a skill that needs practice. In this process, you can also identify your major time-waster activities and take proper action to rectify it. Idea 2: Know the difference between urgent and important We are faced with jobs, errands, and works that require our immediate attention every day. Tasks from personal chores (cleaning clothes) to professional obligations (finishing the draft by 6 p.m.) weigh on our minds regularly. Trying to decide which to do can be a challenge. In this case prioritization of the tasks is required. You should be able to identify which is important and which is urgent for you. Which tasks are your time waster and which task you can procrastinate? Always remember apart from work you have to do well in your exams also. So do not let important turn into urgent. You are the best person who can identify what is important and what is urgent for you. Idea3: Stick with the basics We all have a preferred learning style like some makes notes some underline the books, some revise daily some do it weekly. Knowing and understanding our learning style helps us to learn more effectively. Through identifying your learning style, you will be able to capitalize on your strengths and improve your self-advocacy skills. So here I will like to suggest do not experiment a lot with your learning style, stick with the basic there is no reason you will not excel. Yes, change for the betterment is always welcome. Idea4: MMS (Man management skill) Hereby MMS I mean man management skill. Skill to say “NO” to your buddy for movies, skill to handle your boss who asks you to work on a Monday night when you have an exam the next morning. Realize that it’s okay to say no. Keep your short- and long-term priorities in mind. If phone calls from friend and relatives are proving to be a distraction, tell them that because of exams you take social calls from 6-7 p.m. It may sound silly, but believe dude it helps. Idea5: Take a break It’s a good idea to take a break from your daily routine after all you are not a machine. Once a while, why not to meet some of the relatives and enjoy with them to the fullest. Add some enjoyable activities in your day or weeks, it will rejuvenate you fill with energy. After you’ve completed a sizeable task, it’s a good idea to give a break to reward yourself. You can ring a friend, listen to music or can enjoy TV. Studies show short breaks actually improve productivity, so you’ll gain more than the time you lose by pausing for a moment. Apart from doing the things which you enjoy, also take a break to keep your self-fit. To keep one fit for the exam is also a part of exam preparation. So, friends, it’s all from my side. Hope you enjoy reading this blog. Thanks for stopping. Enjoy learning!!! Yours, Rahul Karn Related Post When determination meets fates.

How to start as a Technical writer So you want to start as a technical writer/Information Developer, I will try to answer few questions, I was searching when I decided to embark on this journey. Career opportunities   Technical writers find career opportunities in the financial, industrial, construction, electronics, automotive, medical, computer, biomedical, healthcare, agricultural and petrochemical industries.In IT industries, a growth pattern is very much similar to software developers.  Do I have a trait to be an Information Developer? Unfortunately, most of the tech writer in the industry does not become tech writer by choice but it happens to them and many starts loving it and few change their way. Who are the people who change their way and why? A technical writer is expected to have great technical skill as well as writing skill i.e. exceptional command over language and understanding of technology and this is a very rare combination to find. Some companies depending on their requirement either hire a candidate with domain expertise’s and an average writing skill while some give priority to the language experts. New picking up trends are companies start giving preference to the candidate with engineering background with at least one language knowledge and domain knowledge with good communication skills. Although writing skill or technical skill for a technical writer is one of the most debatable topics on the different forum. I believe Students must have a command of the English language, and understand the basic principles of a composition including grammar and sentence construction and common sense (logic). Common sense helps to learn new tools quickly as well as it also helps to understand the flow usability of application which is also the main prerequisite for tech writers. So before you jump this bandwagon make sure you love to write and have a nick to learn tools and programs? If your answer is yes, then be sure you are choosing a right career. You can download the trial version of tools used by a technical author and try to get familiar with it. Above all correct attitude will help you to get your dream job. You can read about the qualities of a technical writer. Where to start? Which class to join classes and What to learn? Now you know you want to be a tech writer/information developer, the question is where to start? Which class to join to be a good technical writer and, above all, get a good paying job??? There is nothing like that if you get a chance to join directly any company without any training classes. Training classes are not a bad idea but starting directly is a great idea. I myself joined a class to become a tech writer but fortunately, I got placed before I complete my course? No, my institute does not have to do anything with my placement as I get it. It was my luck. So now you are considering joining a class to learn this skill. There are many classrooms and online courses are available.   What should you learn? I hope minimum these things you should learn in any classroom.   Introduction to technical writing. Concepts and Principle Importance of Technical Communication Software Development Life Cycle and Documentation Development Life Cycle Style Guide (MSTP) Authoring Tools (Word, RoboHelp, Framemaker) Imaging Tools (Snagit, Paint) After completing the course you should know: how to determine  the audience, purpose, and objectives for the various documents how to follow steps to successful technical writing how to write collaboratively how to write a procedures manual how to design the most common types of technical documents   Links to technical writing courses classrooms/online (India and International)