Vijay Kumaran completed the TWB Fundamental Certification Program in 2011. He is currently working as a Technical Writer Analyst in the Information Development unit at Dell R&D. His first job was as a Customer Service Associate at Accenture. His educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Application.

How do you update yourself on the company updates?

At Dell, we have an internal email circular sent every day with information related to our processes and the company. We also have many internal forums that a Dell employee can join based on our interests.

Dell, also organizes regular meetings (All-hands) scheduled, where representatives from each team will update others about new strategies, processes, and products.

What inspired you to be a Technical Communicator?

I have always been fascinated by technology. I completed my BCA, so that I could stay in touch with technology on a regular basis. I wanted to become a Technical Communicator, as the field seemed to be very closely linked to technology. When I underwent training at TWB, I realized, it was not as easy as I thought. It took me a lot of practice to convey technical aspects/technology to everyone the way I see it.

Which Software Application did you use when you started your career?

I did not start using one software application, when I joined Dell. I was assigned tasks on a suite of application. Some of them are, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe InDesign, WebWorks Publisher, Cyberlink PowerDirector, Cyberlink WaveEditor, Microsoft SharePoint Designer, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Which are the latest Software Applications used by Technical Communicators?

The latest applications used by Technical Communicators, are now available in the Adobe Technical Communication suite of applications. Apart from these software applications, there are a few more which are used by Technical Communicators, based on the company’s domain.

Why was Technical Communication not given major importance before?

Not many people read a document when they are in need or help or some troubleshooting tips, Moreover, the use of technical terms, vague phrases, and improper use of the English language was the drawback for Technical Communication. Nowadays, the trend is changing, and companies are looking at people who have good command over the English Language and have a good understanding of technology.

Why is there so much demand for Technical Communicators now?

As mentioned earlier, the need of the hour is Technical Communicators with proficiency in the English language and eagerness to experiment and understand technology.

How did the technical writing course at TWB help you?

The course that I completed at TWB, greatly helped me in understanding that there are many people who look for guidance from experts. But, experts have reached such a level, that they no longer look at information from the usability perspective. They are more worried about the credibility of the product in the industry.

We cannot blame experts as well, because they are usually multi-tasking between roles and under immense pressure to meet deadlines. But with Technical Communicators emerging as experts in communication and technology, experts will eventually become guides, for people who know how to convey information, keeping the user as the top-most priority and not the product.

What influenced your choice of career?

Technology is a never-ending domain. The sheer scalability of this domain is what fascinated me. My BCA degree got me the initial platform to stay connected with technology. I knew about technology, but when the time came to convey my thoughts, I was at loss for words. I was good in communication, as I worked as a Customer Service Associate, but conveying technology was the limitation. That’s when I heard about Technical Communication and felt this training will help me a great deal. I can surely say, I did make the right choice of completing a Technical Communication certification. Thank you TWB!

Vijay Kumaran completed the TWB Fundamental Certification Program in 2011. He is currently working as a Technical Writer Analyst in the Information Development unit at Dell R&D. His first job was as a Customer Service Associate at Accenture. His educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Application.

How do you update yourself on the company updates?

At Dell, we have an internal email circular sent every day with information related to our processes and the company. We also have many internal forums that a Dell employee can join based on our interests.

Dell, also organizes regular meetings (All-hands) scheduled, where representatives from each team will update others about new strategies, processes, and products.

What inspired you to be a Technical Communicator?

I have always been fascinated by technology. I completed my BCA, so that I could stay in touch with technology on a regular basis. I wanted to become a Technical Communicator, as the field seemed to be very closely linked to technology. When I underwent training at TWB, I realized, it was not as easy as I thought. It took me a lot of practice to convey technical aspects/technology to everyone the way I see it.

Which Software Application did you use when you started your career?

I did not start using one software application, when I joined Dell. I was assigned tasks on a suite of application. Some of them are, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe InDesign, WebWorks Publisher, Cyberlink PowerDirector, Cyberlink WaveEditor, Microsoft SharePoint Designer, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Which are the latest Software Applications used by Technical Communicators?

The latest applications used by Technical Communicators, are now available in the Adobe Technical Communication suite of applications. Apart from these software applications, there are a few more which are used by Technical Communicators, based on the company’s domain.

Why was Technical Communication not given major importance before?

Not many people read a document when they are in need or help or some troubleshooting tips, Moreover, the use of technical terms, vague phrases, and improper use of the English language was the drawback for Technical Communication. Nowadays, the trend is changing, and companies are looking at people who have good command over the English Language and have a good understanding of technology.

Why is there so much demand for Technical Communicators now?

As mentioned earlier, the need of the hour is Technical Communicators with proficiency in the English language and eagerness to experiment and understand technology.

How did the technical writing course at TWB help you?

The course that I completed at TWB, greatly helped me in understanding that there are many people who look for guidance from experts. But, experts have reached such a level, that they no longer look at information from the usability perspective. They are more worried about the credibility of the product in the industry.

We cannot blame experts as well, because they are usually multi-tasking between roles and under immense pressure to meet deadlines. But with Technical Communicators emerging as experts in communication and technology, experts will eventually become guides, for people who know how to convey information, keeping the user as the top-most priority and not the product.

What influenced your choice of career?

Technology is a never-ending domain. The sheer scalability of this domain is what fascinated me. My BCA degree got me the initial platform to stay connected with technology. I knew about technology, but when the time came to convey my thoughts, I was at loss for words. I was good in communication, as I worked as a Customer Service Associate, but conveying technology was the limitation. That’s when I heard about Technical Communication and felt this training will help me a great deal. I can surely say, I did make the right choice of completing a Technical Communication certification. Thank you TWB!

Do we practice or we practise?

Does one take offence or offense?

Most of us have been through the confusion, and written down a random spelling anyway. But now as technical writers, we are bound to learn the hard way.

According to the British usage of English, practice is a noun and to practise is a verb.

For eg:

 It is time for football practice.

It is time to practise football.

However, American English makes it simpler by using the same spelling in both instances- practice.

Words like advice (advise), device (devise) etc. are similar examples.

But, certain words like offence, pretence etc. are simply spelled so in British English. The c is replaced by s when used in American English. For eg: offense, pretense etc.

Cheers,

Sudeshna (http://www.eccentrikgirl.com)

-Learn the basics of english grammar and practise it in your daily life.
-Communicate your friends in english and make yourself clear and precised what you’re saying .This can help your friends to learn and correct their mistakes too.
-Speak and write complete sentence giving out single message from each sentence.
Never speak or write english while you’re in doubt.This may cause confusion to the second party.
Self-educate to learn different versions of English .For Example, British language, American Language and so on.

Practise on  http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar.

Note :
None is perfect except God.
BUT” PRACTISE MAKES A MAN PERFECT ”

While  writing to any set of audience, the message  should be accurate, clear, simple and direct. Usage of simple sentences help the audience  in understanding the message easily. Avoid ambiguous statements.

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY to all the trainers and trainees of TWB.

Today while reading a book,I have gone through few quotes which I think will motivate us in our daily activities.
These are the following quotes:

• “That some achieve great Success,is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.”…Abraham Lincoln
• “The first and most important Step toward success is the feeling that we can succeed.”..Nelson Boswell
• “To accomplish great things,we must not only act,but also Dream,not only plan,but also believe.”..Anatole France
• “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.”..Dale Carnegie

I wanted to learn structured Framemaker and started looking for online tutorials or PDFs that I could learn from. I found a good pdf tutorial at http://www.fortunetsolutions.com/portfolio/XML-Structured-FrameMaker-7-tutorial.pdf.
Hope you all find it helpful.