Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter
August/September 2008
| Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter August/September 2008 |
The presentation detailed the necessary steps to best compel companies to hire you. Knowing yourself, knowing your audience, and proactively convincing management that you are the best match to meet the company's needs will enable you to find better work, more respect, and better opportunities.
Andrew Davis, President/Recruiter for Synergistech Communications, pairs companies and staff and contract technical communicators together. Andrew is a former writer of system administration and software developer documentation for companies such as Oracle, IBM, Informix, Network Equipment Technologies, and Verity. He is well-connected in Silicon Valley's software and telecommunication documentation communities. Synergistech's Web site, www.synergistech.com, contains detailed, specific advice for aspiring, as well as established technical communication professionals, and includes large sections on resumes, portfolios, interviewing, contracting, compensation, and competing in today's job market. He's reachable at andrew@synergistech.com or 1-866-591-2968. His LinkedIn profile is www.linkedin.com/in/synergistech.
- have previously worked as a technical communicator
- have relevant portfolio samples for the work you seek
- can supply at least two professional references from a manager and a subject matter expert
- have relatively current tools and technology skills
- have compensation requirements in line with today's job mrket
- can identify the right cultural match
Plenty of opportunities, more competitive than last year, more stakeholders, and decisions take longer. Most are staff positions for people with strong technical skills willing to work on the Peninsula and in the South Bay; end-user and system admin documentation jobs are rare. Technical knowledge, specifically domain expertise rather than tools experience, matters more than communications skills, which are assumed. Job descriptions lack realism, often concatenating together the role of a technical writer with other roles, such as a junior software engineer or a project manager. Publications managers no longer control their budgets. The profession's stature has diminished significantly since the 90s. Technical communicators are perceived to be the resource willing to do the work engineers hate. Companies believe that they can do without us or replace us for 1/5 the cost in India.
Write a flawless resume focusing on accomplishments relevant to your next company; list your tools and technical domain expertise at the top; and clarify the work sought in an objective or summary statement. Network assiduously through LinkedIn, STC, colleagues, friends, recruiters, and relatives, and subscribe to "Not Synergistech's Jobs" RSS feed (http://synernot.wordpress.com/feed/). Put exemplary portfolio portions online; link to that site from your resume or cover letter. Apply to all jobs you'd enjoy, as well as to companies whose products interest you.
During phone interviews, discern what matters to each likely in-person interviewer and the kind of portfolio samples, references, or technical understanding they seek. Research the company using LinkedIn, Wikipedia, and other resources listed under "Company Research" at "Learning What the Natives Know" (www.synergistech.com/getting-technical.shtml). Prepare at least five educated questions for each of your interviewers. Ask open-ended questions designed to have them talk about the working situation. See "Synergistech's Advice about Interviewing" (www.synergistech.com/interviewing.shtml).
During in-person interviews:
- Dress for success, smile, give a firm handshake, and face your interviewer.
- Make eye contact and give concise, focused answers.
- Ask if they want to hear more, be forthcoming about your accomplishments and how you achieved them.
- Provide specifics about how you resolved problems and overcame challenges to everyone's benefit.
- Don't criticize, whine, or blame.
- Talk less than your interviewer.
After in-person interviews, send thank-you notes, ask their decision-making timeframe, offer to make your references available, and find out whether they'd like more information from you. During negotiations, when asked your price, give a range centered around an acceptable number. Make it clear that you're interested in the overall offer (benefits, responsibilities, work conditions, potential for career growth, stock options, and a dozen other factors listed in "Tools and Resources for Optimizing your Compensation" at www.synergistech.com/compensation.shtml) as well as that you've multiple irons in the fire. Respond quickly and honorably to any offer. If it's too low, say why -- even if there's no price flexibility, you can always negotiate the intangibles. If you're weighing two offers, say so, giving the hiring managers a timeframe for your decision. Beware of counter offers; broken trust does not heal.
Some recruiters may alter your resume and misrepresent you to potential employers. To discourage this practice, copyright your resume.
Succeeding in today's competitive market boils down to being proactive about getting yourself noticed, then demonstrating resourcefulness, educated enthusiasm, and real-world results.
Be found. Create a complete LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is the serious jobseeker's site. Get recommendations from colleagues and answer others' questions; both add to your credibility. Put your resume on the main job boards, but make your name and email address anonymous to protect your identity. Consider listing a phone number that goes straight to voicemail; you'll get plenty of uninformed calls and "business opportunity" solicitations. Don't list your cell number or your actual street address. Use aggregator services such as Oodle and SimplyHired to email you news of new job postings in your geographic area and professional niche.
Here is where we get into the nuance of the job search, where a masterful jobseeker can distinguish her- or himself from the merely capable one. In a tight market, becoming the Compelling Candidate is the result of working consciously to leave a positive impression. When hiring decisions get made, it's usually this impression that has the most influence.
Google your main interviewers; they're googling you. Find out where they've worked; use your LinkedIn network to contact their peers and former colleagues to find out more about them. It'll help you come up with relevant questions for them. In your interviews, ask about the team's challenges and volunteer how you resolved similar challenges. Be focused and specific, including objective facts (dollar amounts, percentages, time savings, etc.). If your success was commended by management, quote them. If the company makes its documentation public on its site, download some relevant content and prepare some questions about it. Here's your chance to demonstrate that you can take the initiative, save them time and money, and that you're passionate about helping them.
Present realistic professional scenarios to your interviewers and ask them how they'd expect you to respond. This tells you whether they're realistic and, if their expectations are low, gives you the chance to jump in and explain how you'd over-deliver. Educate yourself about the company's market and ask trenchant questions about their strategy, funding, partners, and expectations for beating their competition. Make it clear that you want to commit to a winning team. Ask detailed questions about the department's plans and comment on how you can assist with these. Engage the interviewer and make the mental equation between yourself and their success. Impress upon your interviewers that you're not just looking for a paycheck but to contribute to their goals. Make them think that, of all the candidates interviewed, you are the candidate who will do the best job, as you're by far the most informed, enthusiastic, capable, and committed.
Ask questions that give you the chance to talk about how you've delivered objective increases in revenue or savings. Cite specific dollar or percentage changes, time saved, and related quantifiable results. Narrate your portfolio samples from the point of view of business results achieved -- scenario, challenge, solution, and realized revenue or savings. If asked to send samples or to take a writing test, say yes. Learn what successful people do in the role you'll occupy. Look for opportunities to make your management and subject matter experts look good.
All else being equal, what makes the difference when choosing between two comparable candidates? It's chemistry -- the degree to which you've bonded with your interviewers. Although there are certainly factors over which you have no control, you can do a lot to sway the decision in your favor:
Andrew "Drew" Wynne is an RPG programmer and technical communicator. He has authored, tested, implemented, documented, and maintained RPG solutions on the iSERIES AS/400 platform. His email is wynneinc@hotmail.com. His LinkedIn profile is www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjwynne; he accepts LinkedIn invitations and shares LinkedIn hints and tips.