In the first chapter of the Markel's Technical Communication the reader gets a basic understanding of what technical communication encompasses.  It starts out by discussing a research study of over 400 companies and asking those companies what skills they felt were very important (Markel 3).  Nearly every company (more than 90%) said that these skills were very important:

• oral communication
• teamwork and collaboration
• Professionalism and work ethic
• Written communication

Beyond these another study discussed on page 3 says that writing skills are very important.

I bring this topic up because I'd like to talk about the progression of my technical communication skills.  I've gone from not really know what technical communication was (the beginning of the semester) to understanding that yes it's an extremely important skill.

In the past two months I've had both good and bad experiences which involved using technical communication skills.  I'm going to give a brief summary of these in somewhat chronological order to bring you up to date and then I'll try to conclude with my most recent experience followed by my predictions for the next assignments which I'll be working on.

At the beginning of the semester I started this blog.  Writing was never a major struggle but knowing what content to put in and write about was usually an area I struggled.  I feel like my blogs became less humorous and more monotonous for myself every week until we come to today which I present you the most boring blog yet. Maybe it's because I'm worn out, or it might be because I feel no inspiration to write anything clever in this blog anymore due what I perceive as a lack of appreciation from my audience.  Whatever it is you as a reader should know that my current effort of writing this blog is a complex of both love and hate.  I loathe the fact that I'm up writing this because of my commitment to post it within a time constraint (I mean it's been a long day and I'd much rather be asleep in my cozy bed),  On the other hand I'm a person who actually really likes to sit around and think about stuff (and I don't mean that sarcastically, I actually like to ponder).  Writing it down can really help me focus and reflect on things which I otherwise might not think of or be distracted from thinking about.  This blog has purpose for me.

My first project in English 301 was a bust.  I didn't do too well on it.  I had hoped that I would receive a good grade because I actually tried very hard to do a good job.  Unfortunately I must have overestimated my technical communication skills.  I apparently didn't understand the project and completed unsatisfactory work.  So I knew I would have to make it up on the other projects.

The next project was done working with a single partner.  This actually worked out quite well.  I discovered that my communication skills within a small closed group are rather effective.  We divided work well and it really wasn't too bad.  Our grade for that project was OK.

I've been trying to analyze and observe other outlets which I use technical communication skills.  I use these skill at my work all the time.  Often I have to send emails to supervisors to ask questions or report things which I've done.  The other week I had to compose a document which illustrated that I've satisfactorily completed all the training procedures.  I know I did a good job on that and impressed my supervisors.

Finally this last assignment I did in English 301 was a collaborative research project.  I disliked this project from the start and will be glad when I'm done with it after this week.  I've found that working in a larger group is much much more difficult than working with a single partner.  People don't communicate as well and it's hard to agree on things.  I often feel like I'm forced to agree to something because I don't want to start an argument which could create tension within the group.

It's often the things which things we dislike which help to form us the most and can help us learn. This experience working with a larger group has definitely made me rethink my place within the group and caused me to take initiative or to disagree and propose my own ideas which I think should at least be heard.  It's not comfortable to do these things for me but I suppose it's part of my technical communications training.  While I'm glad to be done with this project soon and won't miss it, I don't believe it was a loss or a waste of my time.

The next assignment is what I'm looking forward to.  Literally.  I should have a chance to draft a new resume which I really need to do.  I've done a lot since the last time I really did that (it was senior year in high school).

As I was attempting to convey in the beginning of this post.  Employers are looking for people skilled in technical communication.  I think I'm well on my way.

Until next time.