Know Your Calling

The lyrics to one of my favourite tracks go…

Tonight it’s time
Choose a direction
If you fail
You can make a correction
Slower now
Make life faster
Make your mind
Up for once this time
- ‘Tonight’, Divine Discontent, Six Pence None The Richer

Like any other vocation, technical communication has its own set of diverse decisions to be taken at different stages while you are at it. One such decision is that of sticking to a single domain. Seldom do you find people who know what their true calling is with respect to their profession, leave alone the specialization. And what does it take to know your true calling - time, experience, knowledge, instinct, maturity, self-awareness? Well, it could be any or a combination of any or all of these. Technical Communication in itself is a long learning trip. What and how you decide to learn is your choice. A choice which,

• you know you will not regret
• blurs the line between work and leisure
• keeps you asking for more
• wins you respect and confidence
• helps you focus
• gives you a sense of belonging, and much more.

In my discussions with several successful technical communicators on what keeps them going, I have observed a common denominator - their learning experience and challenges while working in different domains. To an extent the words sounded as clichéd as the replies from film and television personalities saying, “We love to be in the profession because we get to play a variegated set of characters which we otherwise cannot”. However, it is true; worthwhile having several exhilarating experiences in one lifetime!

Subash Babu and Vijayalakshmi Dandu, in their article ‘Domain-Specific Technical Writing’ point out three different angles for observing the difference between domain-specific writing and everyday writing. I quote (condensed),

1. Use or usage scenarios are different for domain-specific products, and so the audience analysis may differ.
2. The process of writing is distinct. A “click-here-click-there” approach may not usually work when writing documentation for specialized domains.
3. General software applications are easy to use, and technical writers can use them to understand the user’s role better. This may not be the case with domain-specific products.

I concur with all three and would point another angle - Nature of documents developed may differ depending on the domain and thus the writing approach. For example, no domain will have unique document structures like ‘Case Reports’ as in Medical Writing or Security Advisories as in Information Security.

A general set of advantages of delving in different domains look like:

1. Increased exposure
2. Diverse challenges
3. More opportunities
4. Freedom from monotony

When shifting domains, many times, technical communicators are required to learn new tools and technologies which may not be possible to achieve while retaining your primary focus on a single domain. Moreover, its like tech-writer-schooling (if I may coin the term) all over again, which for a lot of people is a fad. You start learning from scratch, kick-start with the fundamentals along with getting the client requirements, carry out an audience analysis based on the domain, type of document, organization writing style, and region-specific issues. Next comes preparing a plan for document development, again keeping the above parameters in mind. The consequent phases of the Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC) may not be different from a usual scenario except for the maintenance phase where the frequency and type of maintenance will differ largely from one domain to the other .

A lot of technical communicators shift domains for otherwise obvious reasons like a pay-hike, change in environment, better designation, and increased responsibility. However, very few lucky ones find their true calling in the process. So is it possible to find it on the other side of the fence? Lets see.

This side of the fence is full of people who have fallen in love with the domain, or accidentally remained stuck to it, or could not find other exciting opportunities. I’d choose to focus on the first category as we are talking of choices and finding your true calling. Domain-specific writing has its own set of advantages:

1. Reducing dependence. Prolonged exposure to the same domain, considerably depreciates your dependence on subject matter experts (SMEs). Needless to say, if the project is not product-specific, document development becomes a breeze.
2. Knowing the nitty-gritty gives you ability for proposing creative approaches for presentation of concepts while keeping usability intact.
3. Narrowing your focus to one domain, gives you time and space to explore all the available resources, question, break-apart and challenge techniques for better understanding.
4. Building your own space. Gives you an opportunity to create a niche for yourself and create a personal brand.
5. Last but not the least, some people still believe in being ‘Master of ONE trade’

If the domain is challenging enough to hold your interest for more than two decades (my appropriation), and teach the tricks of the trade, nuances of the technology and gives you the power to innovate while you develop documents, its a choice well-made! Again, domain-specific writing does not imply specialization in only one domain. A technical communicator may be considered a domain-specific writer in one more domains if

• He/She has executed quality projects showing (irrespective of a stringent numeric parameter with respect to time or number of projects)
  • Domain Expertise
  • Ease of Use
  • Efficient Document Planning
  • Quick and appropriate problem-solving

  And other common characteristics: if

• Each project has been a learning experience
• He/She has been able to add value to the deliverables
• He/She learnt something new with each project and attempted to improvise the next accordingly.

Its all about choices, right from the time you were in school, and had to pick second and third language subjects, to college days where you had to decide which subject to major in. How many people find their choices worthwhile? How many people suffer mid-career crisis?

The points mentioned in this article are certainly not exhaustive. These are simply blurbs. I leave it your imagination to expand on these. Ricardo Semler, in his book ‘The Seven Day Weekend’ talks about giving his employees an opportunity to soar. They can soar when find their true calling. I wonder how many of us as employees or otherwise have found our true calling? Have you found yours? If not, how far are you from YOUR CALLING?