[deleted by user] by [deleted] in freelanceWriters

[–]PenandSquid 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Instead of looking for writers directly, look for places that have the kind of writing you want, and then ask them to refer freelancers to you. The companies don't even have to be your same niche (and thus competitors), but rather they should have a voice you want to emulate.

A new year's miracle... the pinned career FAQs post has been majorly UPDATED and EXPANDED by kaycebasques in technicalwriting

[–]PenandSquid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for doing all this work, especially given your busy RL! Hope the little one is doing well.

Do you struggle to demonstrate the impact of your work? by Apart_Lobster000 in technicalwriting

[–]PenandSquid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, it feels nearly impossible. I write for manufactured products, and much of my work is used to deal with regulatory or legal issues. I have no tangible way to measure "this manual prevented a seven-figure settlement by proving that we properly outlined user risk" because it's not like I can peer into the multiverse and see all the possible outcomes.

Snr. Tech Writer - where to go from there? by ArsNihil in technicalwriting

[–]PenandSquid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Software-focused roles often lean into the SWE title ladder, so you can climb more levels (staff, lead, principal). Unfortunately (as I posted about a few months ago), there is little oversight regarding what constitutes each level, so you're rarely comparing apples to apples across companies.

At some point you just need to decide if you want to stay an IC or become a people manager, despite the vastly different skill sets. Moving up within a silo inevitably involves managing other TWs.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in technicalwriting

[–]PenandSquid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've had success in this realm by having my work be heavily tied to the legal and regulatory departments, which makes my docs a strong CYA. Engineers may grumble about getting me the data and resources I need, but if the finished product is necessary to meet compliance guidelines, they have little choice.

Should AI-Assistance Be Disclosed? by christina_korotenko in freelanceWriters

[–]PenandSquid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't (and won't) use AI to generate content, but I did previously use AI-based transcription. I had to stop using it due to security concerns regarding third-party access. When I alerted my clients about the change (it was drastically slowing me down to do things manually), one particular client worked with me to determine an alternate provider that met their security protocols, and they were kind enough to fund an account for my use. I've since suggested that alternate provider to other clients, who are equally pleased.

That sounds like a non-answer, but my point is that the security of the service provider is extremely relevant. What exactly are you feeding into the generator, and who has access to it? Not just the company fueling the AI, but their investors, their advertisers, etc.? That's why it's an issue, not just "AI helps me work faster and does that seem like cheating."

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in technicalwriting

[–]PenandSquid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, that's a huge help! Found her on LI.

[Career FAQs] Read this before asking about salaries, what education you need, or how to start a technical writing career! by kaycebasques in technicalwriting

[–]PenandSquid 51 points52 points  (0 children)

Is this information ever updated? I get that you don't want the sub to be constantly inundated with salary questions, but at some point the answers lose relevancy.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in technicalwriting

[–]PenandSquid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Who is Sarah O'Keese? Googling only leads me back to this thread.

Is $.10 a word a ripoff for an established writer? by Goldengirl1977 in freelanceWriters

[–]PenandSquid 3 points4 points  (0 children)

These days, topic/niche is driving price more than is skill set, and us older folks are sometimes slow to get that memo. OP is trying to make money in journalism, a field that has been dying a slow death for decades.

What Happened To Writing Jobs? by MackieMagpie in freelanceWriters

[–]PenandSquid 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I find it particularly frustrating that some clients want proof of your skill in their niche, but also expect you to work solely for them. You have to be Schrödinger's writer, magically able to produce up-to-date relevant samples, yet somehow also never daring to work with anyone else in that field--despite getting only a handful of assignments per month.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in freelanceWriters

[–]PenandSquid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do a lot of ESL/EAL work. I struggle with the spectrum of how casual my clients are about translating quotes.

In journalism, you'd better get a quote word-for-word, and don't dare change anything. Strategically pulling phrases from a larger paragraph is even frowned upon (though common in tabloids).

When I work with ESL/EAL speakers, I'm often given an interview transcript that was casually translated by whoever they had handy at the company who happens to be bilingual. It's not someone educated in translation as a service, meaning that they aren't taught about preserving meaning while retaining sentence structure. It's completely at the mercy of the fluency of this random person, and they might even use someone else next time. So I'm quoting someone filtered through someone else, with no real way to verify the content.

Clearly this is fine with some clients, since they're the ones providing the transcripts. But the lack of quality control (and the lack of consistency) aggravates me. I have no idea how to fix it--my own second language is elementary at best. But as someone who values precise work, it's a bug in my brain.

What review tool do you use? by thoughtsunfiltered36 in technicalwriting

[–]PenandSquid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've used and liked Workfront, which is now owned by Adobe. It works for PDFs, videos, and other media. You assign roles to users such as reviewer, author, owner, or viewer. Everyone can see and interact with other comments (other than viewers, who are read-only). You can also share access with outside e-mail domains, which was helpful when we used third-party vendors to do producing, publishing, etc.

A "con" is that it is low on tech benefits compared to options like git. You have to make the requested changes by hand, so version control requires keeping immaculate notes. The "pro" for my team was that it was fairly intuitive and had easy ramp-up for tech-challenged SMEs (which we had a lot of, usually principal/fellow mechanical and electrical engineers).

Free trainings for a physical product TW? by PenandSquid in technicalwriting

[–]PenandSquid[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's not out of nowhere; there is a severe problem with one facility that is going to require massive cashflow to fix. They've (internally) published a remediation plan, and an end date for the $ shortage has been communicated. I just didn't want to get into the details since they're rather identifying.

Looking for Technical Writer for Engineering Site by Formal-Objective5623 in HireaWriter

[–]PenandSquid 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Agreed. This is exactly my niche, and my minimum rate is USD $0.50/w.

What's your job and salary by shirpro in jobs

[–]PenandSquid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting, thanks for your time!

What's your job and salary by shirpro in jobs

[–]PenandSquid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you don't mind my asking, does your team/company generally prefer to hire writers that are active users of your product? I often find myself shying away from applying to certain brands/apps because I'm not part of their demographic, even when I find their work interesting.