The Official Publication of the STC Technical Editing SIG
So your HR department asked you to help update the employee handbook?
On 27 August 2024 at 1200 PM ET (click here for your local time), join Cindy Pao as she talks about doing a major update to the employee handbook at a previous employer. We’ll talk about the people you want on the review team, the goals for performing the update, and how your technical editing skills can help produce an employee handbook understood by most.
For tickets, click the link below:
Editor’s Note: As part of our Conversation Starter feature, we present what we hope is the first part of an ongoing discussion about the best way to test an editor’s skills before hiring.
The author here presents a number of thoughts and ideas, and wants to hear what others think about them, to know if you’ve had similar or counter experiences, and to learn about what other innovative measures you might be taking to solve the issue.
Want to join the conversation? Email your thoughts to editor@stc-techedit.org, or write them in the Comments section at the end of this article. We’ll publish them in future issues.
We’ve got a problem in tech.
We require a lot of our editors, more so than is usual in other disciplines.
The editors who work in tech need to be clear and logical thinkers, but also nimble and creative. They often work in several content types, for various audiences. They may be thinking a brand-new project through from the beginning or evaluating one at an early milestone. They often participate in developing the very guidelines that they and the writers will be following. They may also develop templates, models, annotated samples, or other resources. When it comes to the editing itself, they may be called upon to restructure or rewrite, to tweak syntax or diction or tone, or simply to sort out the caps and sweep the commas into place. In short, tech editors are many types of editor in one. Nor are they told which role to play when, but most typically must themselves analyze the writing, judge what is needed, and determine how best to accomplish those tasks (insofar as is possible) in the given timeframe. Then, whatever the level of edit, as there will typically be no one else to do so, they’ll also be proofing their own work.
That’s some spectrum. How does one test for all of this beforehand?
Continue reading “Conversation Starter: How Can We Better Determine an Editor’s Skill Before Hiring?”Editors use style guides to ensure the consistency and clarity of the documentation they review – they are one of the most important tools in a editor’s toolbox. But just like different companies have different style guides, so too do different industries.
Brianne Hughes, a technical editor for Bishop Fox, is one of the authors of The Cybersecurity Style Guide. For an interview with Brianne, in which she explains the need for this type of specialized style guide, see the following link:
http://cmosshoptalk.com/2018/05/15/brianne-hughes-talks-about-the-cybersecurity-style-guide/
Brianne says that this is a document in progress, and that she and her team plan to put out a cleaner V1.1 soon. They are always happy to receive suggestions for future improvement, so if you have any, please contact her via her at style@bishopfox.com.
UPDATE (23 July 2018):
Version 1.1 of the Cybersecurity Style Guide has been published: https://www.bishopfox.com/blog/2018/06/reintroducing-the-cybersecurity-style-guide-v1-1/
By Alisdair Menzies
What does a first-time attendee seek at an STC summit? The response to such a question is probably as varied as the profiles of the some of the people I met in Anaheim. But I hope they all left as invigorated and with as strong a desire to come back as I did.
I came to Anaheim looking for some renewal: new ideas and techniques to make me a better technical communicator, as well as Continue reading “My First STC Summit: International Standards?”