Empowering Tech Writers with a Killer Career Path
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Insufficient focus on career development is a common complaint among technical writers. Salesforce Documentation director Sue Warnke and lead writer Seth Katz provide an in-depth view of the Salesforce Documentation Career Path and discuss actions writers can pursue to demonstrate eligibility for the next level in their career.
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Empowering Tech Writers with a Killer Career Path
- 1. Empowering Writers With a Killer Career Path •Sue Warnke, Director, Documentation •Seth Katz, Lead Writer, Documentation •swarnke@salesforce.com @suewarnke in/susanwarnke •skatz@salesforce.com #stc14
- 2. Sue Warnke Documentation Director Seth Katz Lead Writer
- 3. We are renaissance team members We write, edit, illustrate, code, test, design interfaces, and provide product management We collaborate with product development, infrastructure engineering, Support, QA, Technical Marketing, and many other groups
- 4. But we don’t do all that on our first day Salesforce.com has created a roadmap detailing the path from beginner to advanced technical writer. You can use it, too.
- 6. How Saleforce.com Developed Our Tech Writing Career Path
- 7. Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder. [I]f I had planned out my career…I would have missed my career. --Sheryl Sandberg “ ”
- 8. Research
- 10. Salesforce.com Tech Writing Career Path
- 11. Content Creation
- 12. Impact
- 13. Innovation
- 14. Collaboration
- 16. How you spend your time
- 17. % Favorable May 2012 May 2013 Jan 2014 Trend 61% 78% 78% Steady “I understand what is required to get to the next level”
- 18. % Favorable May 2012 May 2013 Jan 2014 Trend 80% 85% 90% UP “My manager understands my career objectives and is helping me toward them.”
- 19. How do we implement it? • Regularly! • Budget (training, books, whatever you need) • Frequent, lightweight feedback • Frequent recognition • StrengthAssessments • Mentoring • Opportunity Open Market
- 21. What’s next? • Share with your department, your organization • Start the conversation with your manager • Ask: What are your strengths?
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Introductions (Both) & Agenda and Message (Sue) and Audience participation Message & Agenda Q&A
- Introductions Agenda: Core Message: Share our philosophy on career growth to help others. A clear career path can help you communicate the value of tech writing with your company and drive your own career.
- We are reporters in the trenches, advocates for our customers, and presenters of what a product really is. - In fact, writers can, should, and do play a wide range of roles in product development - maybe broader than any other role in technology - some of the things we do: writer, editor, illustrator, coder, QA, product management, UI design - some of the departments we serve: product engineering, infrastructure engineering, support, QA, technical marketing, … We are reporters in the trenches, advocates for our customers, and presenters of what a product really is. photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21804434@N02/4127410115/">mira66</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>
- We use it to: Make clear to writers what they need to accomplish to advance Make clear to managers what they should expect from writers Communicate to the greater organization the value we add You can use it, too.
- We want to learn more about you and what you hope to get out of this talk.
- Revamped our ladder in 2012 How? Gathered feedback through interviews and surveys, industry research <#s of paths we looked at, etc.) Message: Careers are a jungle gym. A clear career path can help you communicate the value of tech writing with your company and drive your own career. Restate message: Tech writers are a critical resource. A clear career path can help you communicate the value of tech writing with your company and drive your own career. --------------------- Has this worked for Salesforce? Career path led to immediate increase in career planning satisfaction and has stayed steady
- photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/keokiseu/4785711836/">Keoki Seu</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>
- 6 month period: Feb-August 2012 36 different resources 6 drafts Broke up into 4 categories to capture the different kinds of impact and skills Used color scheme to visually represent skill progression Skills: Writing and Technical <specific technical skills, like API doc experience, XML, etc.> Impact and Scope: How does your work impact our team, our customers, our company? How complex are your responsibilities? <Identifying requirements from several sources: support, PM, customer forums> Innovation: What ideas do you propose and implement to improve team efficiency and customer success? <thinking outside the box, like coming up with a solution for collaborative content> Collaboration: How do you interact with the doc team, your scrum team, cross-functional groups, and the external community?
- Broke up into 4 categories to capture the different kinds of impact and skills Used color scheme to visually represent skill progressio Skills: Writing and Technical <specific technical skills, like API doc experience, XML, etc.> Impact and Scope: How does your work impact our team, our customers, our company? How complex are your responsibilities? <Identifying requirements from several sources: support, PM, customer forums> Innovation: What ideas do you propose and implement to improve team efficiency and customer success? <thinking outside the box, like coming up with a solution for collaborative content> Collaboration: How do you interact with the doc team, your scrum team, cross-functional groups, and the external community?
- Revamped our ladder in 2012 How? Gathered feedback through interviews and surveys, industry research <#s of paths we looked at, etc.) Restate message: Tech writers are a critical resource. A clear career path can help you communicate the value of tech writing with your company and drive your own career. --------------------- Evidence: Has this worked for Salesforce? Yes -- career planning and transparency was common interest of writers Career path led to immediate increase in career planning satisfaction and has stayed steady
- It’s a lot to remember, so it really all comes down to increasing your sphere of influence.
- Did it work?
- Managers encourage regular career planning – not a once-a-year conversation; depends on the person Budget for training – external and internal Books budget Remind writers to use it Opportunity Open Market Frequent, low-key reviews
- We’ve talked about what Tech Writing is NOT and what is IS. Then we shared the Salesforce Tech Writing Career Path. Core Message: Tech writers are a critical resource. A clear career path can help you communicate the value of tech writing with your company and drive your own career. photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lakecurrents/4679946145/">lakecurrents</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">cc</a>