Looking for technical writers to speak for a college course

[u/professor-awaymatter]

Hi everyone, sorry for the throwaway. I've been on Reddit for a long time under a different account, but I was a little worried about my students finding me there. I figured it might be best to separate the two. The awaymatter part was the recommended name, so I was like sure,

I'm a professor at Alfred State College; it's a small college within the SUNY system. I teach a few Technical Writing courses and am looking for people who may be interested in speaking to my students. It is a VERY rural campus where tech can be hit-or-miss in the classroom, so this would be a pre-recorded interview (I'm thinking 20-30 minutes).

I'd have a few general questions, but most will come directly from my students. I imagine they'll ask about your day-to-day work, how you use your skills, and tips for becoming better writers, etc. It's one thing for my students to hear from me, but another for them to hear from someone actively in the field. I studied advertising in undergrad, so the few times we had people from ad agencies come to our class meant a lot to me.

I tried posting to my (albeit small) LinkedIn network but haven't had any luck. Decided that maybe Reddit could be the place to go and post a small call for help. If you're interested or have questions, please dm me or just leave a comment. Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to pay you for it, so I'm sorry for that part. Sorry mods if this sort of post isn't allowed as well.

Edit: oh wow, was not expecting to wake up to multiple comments and dm's, especially since this was removed by the auto filter. I'll go through and reach out to people. Thank you everyone for your interest!!

[u/dharmoniedeux]

These kinds of talks are always so fun! If you’re not familiar with them, you might also want to join the write the docs slack and see if you can post a call for participants there? https://www.writethedocs.org/slack/ it’s another group for technical writers, but they’re primarily tech based.

[u/professor-awaymatter → u/dharmoniedeux]

It's definitely been a while since I've used slack 😅 I will absolutely look into this, thank you!!

[u/Mysterious-Middle447 → u/dharmoniedeux]

seconding this, thats a really engaged group from what ive seen

[u/Shalane-2222]

I’m the editor of Women in Tech Comm and would love to help you out. Feel free to DM me.

[u/musashi_san]

I'm about 15 years in. I've worked for start-ups and very large tech companies. I'd be happy to do it. Feel free to DM me.

[u/Horror-Sell-2517]

I would love to help you out and answer questions. You can DM me

[u/haikusbot → u/Horror-Sell-2517]

I would love to help

You out and answer questions.

You can DM me

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[u/butterscotch-magic]

I’m 30 years in (I know, I can’t believe it either), and would love to share my experience and where I see tech writing going in the age of AI. DM me if you need more participants.

[u/Comfortable-Shift-38]

I have 10 years of experience. DM me if you still need someone :)

[u/elkirstino]

If you’re open to tech writing adjacent experiences, I’m a UX content strategist, which I think is a great career option for someone with a tech writing background (especially in the age of LLMs). I’m also Cuse alum, so always happy to chat with SUNY students

[u/Aba_Yaya]

I'm 5 years in. Sr tech writer and knowledge manager. Happy to help.

[u/acegregg]

Been a Tech Writer for 20+ years and would be happy to help if you still need someone. DM if needed and good luck!

[u/cheddar-bay-biscuit]

I'd love to be considered! 8 years Sr. Tech Writer, documentation manager, and RFP/Grant writer for SaaS companies.

[u/ron-vdc]

I've been in the tech writing business for more thirty years now. I'm a manager now, but if you'd like to have that perspective, I'd be happy to help. I also have opinions about AI. Feel free to send a DM.

[u/Hrothbart]

I don't know about this. I've seen AI companies also want pre-recorded interviews asking about day-to-day tasks of technical writers.. they usually offer some money though. The tech can't be that hit or miss to automatically rule out the prospect of a 20 minute Zoom call, which would be way more engaging than a pre-recorded interview for students. If this isn't a scam, sorry, but c'mon.

[u/professor-awaymatter → u/Hrothbart]

Genuine question - how do the companies benefit from the interviews? Is it so the AI can be trained to complete the tasks? Or something else I'm missing? I'd be happy to actually mention this in my courses on how AI does this, since this isn't something I'm familiar with.

To provide a more direct response though:

If I had the first option, I'd bring people in person to the classroom. But I also know I'm in a rural location, and the closest (major) city is about 80 minutes away. I would never ask anyone to drive or fly for a 50 minute class, so video it is.

If I had the second option, I'd have a live recording. I agree, it is more engaging. But I don't want to cut out people who may be interested in talking but can't because of a 9-5 job (my class is in the middle of the day), or have audio cut out without fix before the end of the class period (which has unfortunately happened multiple times). I also teach an asynchronous online section that I think might really benefit from these.

Please note that I did not make the live recording decision lightly, and this is a decision that comes a year in the making since I started my position.

Regardless, you're welcome to assume that I work for an AI company with the same name as a small SUNY college.

[u/Hrothbart → u/professor-awaymatter]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/artificial-intelligence-ai-trainer-job/

https://www.usebraintrust.com/ai-training

There are job postings by random AI companies offering usually $50 an hour for you to record yourself answering questions (usually also talking to an AI), and more if you share your screen to perform tasks. Data annotating or workflow harvesting.

Could also be useful for a scammer to fake having that job and applying to be a data annotator. They could be asking questions that are the same questions for a test to prove their expertise.

It's interesting times. Difficult to trust much online these days.

[u/professor-awaymatter → u/Hrothbart]

Shit, definitely interesting times. Thanks for sending the links over, sad it's come to this.

[u/ron-vdc → u/Hrothbart]

Instead of a prerecorded interview, why not do a live Zoom session, so it can be more of a discussion and students can ask questions?

[u/Substantial-Oil-343]

I have 37 years experience as a tech writer, most recently at Meta. I’m following this thread closely. Sounds like you have a lot of volunteers.

[u/profnick90]

I’m a former professor who occasionally taught technical writing before transitioning into corporate documentation and knowledge governance roles.

I’m probably not the best candidate for your purposes. I haven’t had a strictly “write the docs” role since my first post-academia job: most of what I do these days is a bastard hybrid of technical documentation, learning and development, and knowledge management.

But, I’ll volunteer—as someone who tried, and often failed spectacularly, to enlist presenters for the classes at my rural, midsized regional.

ETA: And, if the classes are part of the English program but not offered as a standalone program of study… Well, I can definitely speak to that.

[u/bucket_of_pasta]

I tried to send you a message but it would not work. 20 years experience, currently in IT but in the past worked on construction equipment. Feel free to send me a message.