2. 2
Communicating with
Employers
Going in to the first day of class, I
had no idea what technical writing
was.
◦ At first, I thought it might have to deal with
writing using technology. Throughout the
course I realized that technology does play a
role, but the picture was much broader than
that.
◦ Once I realized what being a technical writer
was, I was able to understand the kind of
things that we would be learning about in
this class. One of the first things that I got to
experience with was creating a resume. I had
previous knowledge of how to create a
resume, but not to the extent that I needed
to know.
Learning that the most important thing
about a resume was making it as
appeasable and relevant the employer as
possible was a valuable learning
experience. On a resume that I had
completed before taking the class, I
included many unnecessary things in it.
Unit 1
Realizing that I needed to include relevant
material in my resume and not just all
material really help me to strengthen my
current resume, and will help with my
resumes in the future.
3. 3
Documenting Procedures
◦ An interesting objective of this class was
learning how to write and create many
different types of documents that were fit
for a specific audience and purpose.
Included in the purposes was to document
meetings.
◦ An agenda was what we were creating,
essentially. This was a unique experience
for me because I had never before had to
create an agenda of my own work for
someone else. I have frequently made
agendas for my own personal pleasure,
but never for the purpose of giving to
someone else to track my progress.
When completing the agendas, I
had to constantly ask myself if this
was reasonable or not. I hadn’t
had that kind of thinking before.
Learning how to do these
documentations of procedures
opened my mind a little to think
outside of my own personal goals
and think for a group.
Unit 2
4. 4
Usability
◦ This class introduced me to a few new things,
but none were as new to me as the usability
testing. I had no idea what these were or how
they worked. When Kylie was explaining them
in class, I was a bit lost, but I learned what they
were and how to use them.
◦ Once I got to the point of actually doing the
usability tests, I realized how important and
useful they are. I also got to experience first
hand how important the audience is. This was
the first time I had to create something that
was directed at a specific audience and
purpose. I learned to keep the audiences needs
in mind while creating a document that would
be beneficial in helping them help me.
Unit 3
5. 5
Proposing Actions
Creating a proposal
was like writing a
persuasive essay.
This document was something new
that I was able to relate to
something I already knew how to
do in order to help me
understand it at first. Like the
persuasive essay, the proposal
was meant to be directed at a
very specific audience with a
very specific goal.
◦ While creating the
proposal, I kept in mind
that I needed to be
professional and direct.
This was the difference
to any persuasive
arguments I've done in
the past. I had to learn
how to present my ideas
in a business matter.
◦ Not only did I have to
persuade that my idea
was the best, but I had to
present a reasonable
date of completion and
budget, something I
never took into
consideration before.
Unit 4
6. 6
Presenting Proposed Actions
Not only did I have to write and
compose, but I also had to give a
presentation.
◦ I have given many presentations
before this class so this was probably
the most easy thing to do.
◦ The one difference between this
presentation and others was that I
was presenting something that I had
conducted instead of research. I
found myself more motivated to
present because of it.
Working with a group to present
makes everything better.
◦ Being able to work with a group for
the whole class made it very easy to
present with them. Everyone had a
role throughout the process of
turning the proposal into an
instruction set, and it made it simple
for each of us to focus on what we
did in the presentation.
◦ Each one of us was able to go in to
great detail about our individual
roles in the project and it took some
pressure off of making everyone
know everything.
Unit 5
7. 7
Reflecting
As I proceeded with this document and reflected
on everything I've done, I’ve realized I am a much
smarter person now.
◦ Completing this assignment has really put into
perspective how much this class has taught me. I
have learned to create professional documents, how
to realize an audience and direct towards them, and
how to work in a group for a common goal.
◦ An important thing to understand also is that the
audience is the most important aspect of all the
documents that you may complete in life.
Unit 6
One thing to consider is the culture
of the audience you are targeting. For
some, professionalism is a must,
while other, you can be more laid
back.
Another thing to keep in mind is
ethics. The most important thing is to
create your own work and be truthful
about it.
8. 8
Conclusion
Technical Writing has
taught me how to write
more professionally and
how to create
documents that are
appealing and
appropriate for each and
every scenario in life.