HCL is looking for techwriters with 1 to 2 years of work experience. If you or someone you know fit the bill, please send across your resume to Martin Xavier at xavierm@hclhdws.hcla.com

Here are the details

* No of Position: 1
* Position: Technical Writer
* Start Date: Immediate
* Work Experience: 2 to 3 yrs
* Qualification: MBA Data Analysis & possess very good
communication skills

You can get in touch with ...

Kavitha Jayaprakash, ( kavithaj@dhyaninfotech.com )
Executive - Human Resources,
Dhyan Infotech Pvt. Ltd.,
Ph : +91 44 - 52100088
Fax : +91 44 - 52100008
www.dhyaninfotech.com

Credit to Santhosh of Cognizant for passing on this message. 

Found this interesting book on Amazon which will be great for companies which are setting up a Doc team.    ( Thanks Giri for the info )

It is weekend time. Most of us use the weekend time to unwind from the hectic schedule that we are forced to follow. The fatigue that sets in, and the pain some of us maybe experiencing is a cause of concern. Do we care about our body?

Do we know of the occupational hazards that we face as Technical Communicators? Check this site for information.

Maybe you all could share your ways of tackling or avoiding Computer Related Injuries.

As technical writers, we spend a lot of time discussing writing skills and technical knowledge. But what about knowledge of the industry our users work in?

I've contracted for a fair bit of my (brief!) tech writing life, and I love the challenge of learning about industries I never knew existed. However, I also consider this the hardest part of my job. For example, I currently work with a company that makes software for clinical research, and it's taken me a while to understand how everything works.

These are some of my observations about acquiring industry knowledge:

• It's difficult to find reliable sources of information (books or websites) that explain an industry or domain, especially a highly specialized one, to an outsider. Most industry knowledge seems to be the kind that goes undocumented.
• It helps to talk to people who have worked in the industry. Senior managers, business analysts or marketing people within the company will usually have some kind of industry experience. However, I've also worked in organizations where no one knew enough to guide me. In such cases, I've had to use my network of friends and acquaintances to find a subject matter expert. 
• Once I'm familiar with the jargon, I find it very useful to read industry journals. They help me become familiar with the business environment my users work in, and understand the challenges that they face.

I would love to know how other writers view this challenge. Do you think writers should have industry experience? I know it's common in industries like engineering, but what about in the world of software?

I found it interesting to note that online help systems can now be delivered in flash. Check Robohelp's Knowledge base with Flash Help incorporated.

I have been following Joel's blog quite some time and it is one of the best site I ever seen. Joel's blogs can also be viewed in Tamil and thanks to initiative taken by Kavitha/Sudarsan/Nagapan. I used to feel that such a good information from Joel's site was not sharable with people who does not know English but with this kind of initiative it is no more a problem. Joel was working for Microsoft in MS Excel team but started his own company.

This month's knowledge sharing session will be held this coming sunday, april 4th at Cognizant's office at 10:00 a.m.  Please do spread the word around. 

Day & Date : Sunday, April 4, 2004
Time : 10 to 11 a.m
Venue : Cognizant Technology Services (CTS), 3rd Floor, Conference Room, Whites Road, Royapettah.
Contact Person : Kiruba Shankar . phone : 52133619 (res) , 52150505 (off)
RSVP : kiruba @ kiruba.com
Door Charge : Rs.20  ( Snacks will be served )

We are planning to get a video camera along so we can record the presentations and discussions.

There may not be too many blogs by tech writers, but the few that exist are really worth following..

Suman Kumar - Tech writer at Wipro http://tw-india.blogspot.com/

Darren Barefoot - http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/

Steve Kapsinow - http://weblogs.asp.net/fifteenseconds/

Guy Haas - Heads Tech writing division at Selectica -  http://swexegete.typepad.com/GuysBlog/

Fred Sampson - http://radio.weblogs.com/0107659/

Jenny L. Berger - http://www.creativetechwriter.com/

Gordon Meyer's "UsableHelp: Examining documentation and help systems for software and consumer products."  - http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/

Lyndsey Amott's _docsymmetry- "Great Technical Writing – even if you are not a great writer " http://www.docsymmetry.com/

Claus Rasmussen: "The main focus of techwriter.dk is software documentation - right from API-documentation and developer tutorials through to end user manuals and online help." http://www.techwriter.dk/en/index.html

(thanks Guy Haas for the additional information )