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Working With In Other WORDS—FAQ
Who are WORDS's writers?
WORDS works with only the most professional and
tested technical communicators.
As one of Israel's leading training centers for technical writers, WORDS prefers to use writers who have graduated the WORDS course. However, other writers with suitable qualifications are key players in the WORDS team.
All writers are paid on a per–project basis. That
makes the writer a senior partner in the benefits
to be derived from your project.
Why does WORDS pay on a per-project basis? Don't you have salaried writers?WORDS pays on a per-project basis because that is the best business model for our clients and for our writers. Clients pay only for the time used, and therefore find our prices more competitive than those companies with writers just "sitting around." From the writers' point of view, there is a great deal of freedom to work from home, to work within their own time frame, and to combine this with an income better than they would have as salaried writers.
Paying writers on a per-project basis doesn't mean that we work a pool of temps. Some of our writers have been with us for more than 15 years! Most find the combination of our constant investment in their know–how (all writers attend many seminars per year), as well as our superior project management, make WORDS a steady place to work. The average duration for a WORDS writer is higher than the industry standard for "captive" writers.
What does a WORDS Project Manager do?The project manager (PM) embodies our twenty-five years of experience in technical communication. The PM has been trained to assess and analyze your needs and bid for your business in an efficient and competitive way.
When you decide to work with WORDS, the PM is your contact person. The PM ensures that:
- the work is handed in on time
- drafts have been looked over by QA personnel
- any problems that may arise during the project are handled carefully and efficiently
- all billings are supervised and followed-up
Why shouldn't I just hire a freelance writer and "skip the middle-man?"Hiring a freelancer through an agency or directly is risky. Do you know enough to assess whether the writer has the necessary background? WORDS screens all writers very carefully—based on twenty-five years' experience.
WORDS takes care of the entire business end of the transaction, leaving you and the writer free to do your jobs. And WORDS provides a support team that possesses skills far greater than the best writer probably has. Whatever you need is available under one roof: expertise in your products' technology, skill in using the latest help authoring tool, technical illustrations, online documentation. In addition, WORDS can even provide translation and localization into any of 18 languages.Wouldn't it be cheaper to use an agency?WORDS is not an agency. WORDS is Israel's veteran technical writing company. WORDS has been in business since 1981.
An agency maintains a database of available writers and sends them out to jobs, as they would secretaries or nurses. They have no knowledge of the nuances of your technology.
WORDS knows only technical communication and,
across the many services we provide, there is one
common theme—technical communication.
We are the leading training company in Israel in
our field, providing customized training to the
likes of IBM, National Semiconductor, Amdocs, and
many more.
We are the leading technical translation company, providing regular service to companies such as Microsoft.
We even provide copywriting, marcom, and training
in these to industry leaders.
Can I be sure I will get the same writer next year when I need to upgrade the manual?You can if you put the writer on retainer, even if it is just for a limited number of hours per month. Otherwise WORDS cannot guarantee that your outsource technical writer will be available exactly when you need the next version of the manual. No company can make this guarantee in today's high-turnover, high-tech climate.
If you notify the PM about your upgrade schedule, everything possible will be done to ensure that the same writer will be available to you. The good news is that, with our project planning expertise, you usually can get the writer who knows your company to come back time and time again.
No writer can be an expert in every given field—but is certainly an expert in one: technical communication. That means knowing the right questions to ask so your user will get the right answer: having the skill to express complex technical information clearly and simply.
Most of our writers have a particular area of expertise: biotechnology, IP, telecommunications etc. But all of our writers understand the logic of technical communication—and that's more important for their job.
If the learning curve in your technology is very steep (though you'd be surprised to know how few technologies can stump a technical communicator), consider having a subject matter expert (SME) write the manual and have one of our editors reorganize or edit this for maximum usability.
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