Wanted: Sr Technical Writer for Informatica Corporation

Location: Bangalore


Corporate Headquarters: Redwood City, CA


Contact: Thao Diep, tdiep@informatica.com





Job Description

Responsible for writing documentation to support our PowerAnalyzer and PowerCenter Connect product lines. PowerAnalyzer is a business intelligence tool that helps decision makers access, analyze, and share enterprise data. PowerCenter Connect products enable integration to ERP systems such as SAP and PeopleSoft, CRM systems such as Siebel, and messaging systems such as IBM MQSeries. As a Senior Technical Writer at Informatica, you will be required to write new manuals and update existing ones. You will be responsible for delivering high-quality printed manuals, online help, release notes, and webzine articles on time.

Responsibilities


Plan, develop, and write highly technical information (concept, task, and reference) that describes the functionality of our PowerAnalyzer and PowerCenter Connect products.

Maintain schedules for specific products and communicate documentation status to documentation manager.

Edit documentation for completeness, style, and accuracy to ensure it reflects Informatica's commitment to quality.

Mentor new writers.





Qualifications

• 3+ years technical writing experience (software).
• BA/BS (English, Journalism, Linguistics, History, Computer Science).
• Experience writing about a BI tool (Microstrategy, Business Objects, Cognos).
• Working knowledge of business analytics (BS in Business or similar work experience).
• Working knowledge of data warehousing, dimensional modeling and star schemas, web portals, web servers, application servers, and wireless protocols.
• Familiarity with databases, Java, SQL, ERP software, CRM software, and XML.
• Experience with FrameMaker, Web Works Publisher, DreamWeaver, or HTML.
• Excellent analytical and written communication skills.
• Excellent leadership and project management skills.
• Ability to quickly learn technical information.
• Ability to meet deadlines and help others meet them.
• Ability to multitask, prioritize, and develop schedules.

Write to me: Suman[at]techwritersindia[dot]com

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Style guides: Sacrosanct?

How many times have you paused and reflected, ‘man, I know I am right, but the style guide does not agree…’?



For example, some style guides proscribe the use of the possessive pronoun noun (earlier I had written 'pronoun'. Thanks Guy for pointing it out.) and demand that you elaborate: IP address of the Server as against Server’s IP address . In certain contexts I prefer the latter; for it is shorter and I am sure it won’t confuse the users. But the style guide does not agree.



I think that a style guide is by no means sacrosanct. It is around to help us, and not to put us in dilemmas. So, if you strongly believe that certain rules of the guide are rigid do share your opinion. A style guide evolves. It needs inputs from all concerned for it to become comprehensive, robust, and current. Do we need styled guides at all? Yes sir, product documentation needs to be consistent in terms of tone, style, and grammar. So, we need style guides. Also, when there is a team of writers working on the various modules of the product, a style guide helps in making the documentation coherent and consistent.

You thoughts?

Some style guides...

The American Psychological Association (APA) Style


Columbia guide to online writing


Lynch Guide



Write to me: Suman[at]techwritersindia[dot]com

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Wanted: Technical Writers for Wipro Technologies, Pune

Wipro Pune is looking Technical Writers with three plus years of relevant experience.

If you

• have worked on creation of user manuals, installation guides, FAQs, and glossary



• Possess an incisive perspective of the technical writing process



• Are well versed in publishing tools like Framemaker, Dreamweaver, MS-Office, and Webworks

Send your updated resumes to suman@sumankumar.com



Job location: Pune

Number of vacancies: four



Rush your resume now!




Write to me: Suman[at]techwritersindia[dot]com

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Job openings for young under-grads and graduates in Spectramind

Spectramind the BPO arm of Wipro is looking for Under Graduates/Graduates with Knowledge in Operating Systems, Email Support, Trouble shooting in Connectivity Problem, Windows 2000, XP, 9X.Microsoft Internet Explorer, Networking Management, Working knowledge of Microsoft® Windows NT® Server and Windows 2000 Server, Working Knowledge of Exchange or comparable e-mail system TCPIP, Hands on in Switches, Routers & LAN / WAN, DOS and PC technology and applications.

Rush your resume to one of the following e-mail ids based on your location preference.

Rush your resumes to one of the following e-mail ids

New Mumbai - wsmcareersbelapur@wipro.com




Chennai - wsmcareerschennai@wipro.com




Delhi - wsmcareersdelhi@wipro.com




Powai - wsmcareerspowai@wipro.com




Pune - wsmcareerspune@wipro.com

Please refer my name (Sumankumar.R) and e-mail id [kumar.suman (at) wipro (dot) com]in your e-mail

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Installing a gas stove: Why I think technical writers are important to this green earth

This morning my wife woke me up from my dreams of swimming with the Dolphins in Mauritius and hollered, 'get the gas stove working man!'. Groggy eyed, I went to the kitchen and unpacked the stove. The burners kept falling off and there were no instructions on the stove or the packaging about how to fit the burners and the knobs. That was the easiest part, you can bring your eyebrows down.

So, I pulled the new gas cylinder that weighed a ton. I had to fix a regulator to the cylinder. A closer look revealed a seal on the mouth of the cylinder. I glanced at my wife who was watching my progress. 'Pull the seal off honey!', she purred, as if it was something even Bush would have figured out. I mumbled an incoherent retort and started pulling the strong wire that bound the cylinder and the seal. I pulled hard. No luck, the damn thing wont budge. I squatted and peered on the walls of the cylinder to find some information that would help me. Nope! No such luck. So, I pulled harder. And the wire cut my left-thumb. My left palm was all crimson. I was incensed. What kind of a manufacturer would ship some thing like a cooking gas cylinder without an installation manual? Bharat gas. Ah!


I squatted again and this I noticed an arrow mark on the seal. Out of curiosity I pulled the wire parallel to the ground (I was pulling it 'up' earlier) and the seal slipped off the cylinder's mouth. Neat! But hey, you know, I would have liked it better if some one had stuck a sticker or probably given a single-page manual on how to install the regulator. If you thought my troubles are over. Think again.

Overjoyed with the seal coming off the cylinder I pounced on the regulator and -you guessed it right - blinked. I rolled it around to find some directon, some snippet that could get me started. My wife started admiring the ceiling, suppressing her laughter. But dude that I am, I was least offended. I took the regulator and started jamming it on to the mouth of the cylinder. Nope. Things are never that easy. I tried everything from banging the regulator's head to dropping it off from a height on to the mouth of the cylinder. Nothing worked. It would just not sit and settle down in the mouth. Frustrated I was pulling up the regulator, and I discovered the slide lock around the regulator. Slide up the lock, sit the damn thing on the mouth, and let go! The regulator squatted firm on the mouth, like a drunk on a barstool. Simple, yes, but... Yeah, yeah if only some one has written it some where.

Now, if you thought my troubles were over. Think thrice. The cylinder supplies the stove with the gas using a reinforced rubber and steel hose. I had to fix the pipe on to the tiny nozzles of the stove and the regulator. And I managed to do it using sheer force. And lost more blood from the cut on my thumb. It is absolutely impossible for a housewife to do it.



As my wife made coffee on our new stove, I was thinking: We technical writers are an important link between products and users. We guide and direct a product's use. A rocket engineer might design a rocket, but who tells the astronauts how to use the loo or the inter-galactic phone in the darn rocket? You.

So, my technical writing friend, the world would be a miserable place without writers like us. Don't go on that cloud number nine yet. Relax. Come down here and listen to daddy: Please remember this poor guy that cut his hand while pulling off the seal from the gas cylinder. If you had had written that small note ('Pull gently, parallel to the ground.') he wouldn't have a cut his thumb today. Remember a product's use overrides the product itself. No use. No product. No user. No use. Follow this and you will be able to afford those cruise trips, and yes, Dolphin watching in Mauritius.


Write to me: Suman[at]techwritersindia[dot]com

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