atw: New Pay Scales for TWs?
- From: "bja" <bashley@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Austechwriter (E-mail)" <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 09:36:01 +1100
I note with sadness that an agency (or person pretending they are an agency)
is trying to play games with our rates and with the way we charge for our
work.
Listed on Seek is a technical writer opportunity containing the following (I
say 'opportunity' because they don't actually say a job is 'available'):
"Technical Writer
Our policy is to only employ the most skilled people available. This policy
is essential to building an exceptional reputation with our growing list of
clients. To be part of our team, you need to be an experienced technical
writer, have a grasp of general purpose computing theories and practices,
and be able to communicate extremely well. Expect to be tested on your
knowledge, experience and skills. You must be able to talk to developers and
convert these discussions into superior technical documents, architecture
diagrams, reference guides, manuals, how-tos, troubleshooting guides and
installation guides. Familiarity with Web/Java applications, Unix shells and
DocBook/XML is a must. Along with your CV, please quote an approximate
pages-per-day rate and give an example of your work with how long it took.
You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident and live in
Melbourne, Australia. To apply, please email your resume to
jobs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Agencies need not apply. Replies can not be provided to
all applicants. All applications will be treated in the strictest of
confidence. "
The part that is of main concern is "Along with your CV, please quote an
approximate pages-per-day rate and give an example of your work with how
long it took."
What, are we editors now charging by the page or word?
This is a nonsense request as it doesn't take into account peripheral
factors such as number of drafts, access to SME, hardware issues,
software/tools issues, company policy, template creation needs etc..
But then, what can you expect from a company that doesn't even show a
company or contact name in the ad. HotMagma is just an ISP in the US who
host the email account. It may as well be JoeBloggs@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Clearly this person/company is either new to our profession (although their
ad would suggest otherwise) or they are trying to exploit the profession and
tie us to output rather than time spent (assuming they are not just trawling
for information).
Even if the ad is legit and there IS a job available, if you apply for this
one, you will only hurt yourself and the profession by quoting page rates
because I know from long experience that many technical writers over quote
their productivity when doing project estimates and as a result, run over
their budgets. They think they create twice the number of pages/day than
they really do when creating from the ground up. And don't forget, those
desperate for work may also be tempted to over quote just to get the work.
Understand that if you go for this job AND you give a pages/day rate, the
person/agency will probably hold you to this rate via contract (if a job
actually exists), the other agencies will eventually follow suit and that
my friends will be the end of the contract part of our profession as we know
it. Ask an editor what their hourly rate is based on the realities of
charging by the page.
Being the cynic that I am though, I personally believe this to be an
exercise by someone quoting on a government tender et al who doesn't know
how to charge. As a result, this, in my opinion, is probably just a trawling
exercise to get industry stats and a list of available TWs willing to work
for peanuts. Think about it.
The ad is vague, it gives no company or contact name, it doesn't actually
say a job is on offer. It is trawling for information only and states "to
become part of our team" which to me means you will be on standby until work
is available, if in fact it ever is.
Good luck.
My 0.02 of course.
Regards
Bruce Ashley
PS, Was the list dead yesterday. Or is it just me?
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