Interview with Louellen S. Coker

Louellen Coker received a Master of Arts degree in Technical Communication from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baylor University.  She serves as President Elect of the Women Business Owners of Denton County, a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging women-owned businesses.  Louellen is also a current member of the Communications Committee for the Dallas Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development.

We decided to pick Louellen’s brain to find out more about the life of a technical communicator and the inner workings of technical communication.

Q. Why did you pursue this career?
LC: I have a passion for writing and graphic design. I pursued this career because it would allow me to do what I like and get paid for doing it. When I was working on my degree, the pay scale and ability to make money quickly was much better in this field than in teaching or creative writing.

Q. What is a typical day in technical communication for you?
LC: Insanity! Especially in deadline weeks. Here is a breakdown:

• Email: usually 45 minutes to 2 hours each day (I receive about 400 emails/day with about 100 of them requiring response)
• Organization: 30-45 minutes divided between morning and afternoon
• Phone calls: about 1 hour
• Volunteer work: about 30 minutes – 1 hour
• Work on customer projects: 3-4 hours (includes writing, editing, designing, troubleshooting, project management, research, and so on)
• Continuing education: approx 1-2 hours/week when I’m lucky)

I work from 9 - 5 Monday through Thursday, sometimes 9 - 12:00 on Fridays, with occasional late nights and weekends.

Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?  And least?
LC: There is not very much that I don’t enjoy—being out of the corporate fray, setting my own hours, being able to work from the back of my boat or anywhere I want to be. I don’t like the late hours and, as the sole proprietor, being responsible for every department—IT, Accounting, Marketing, etc. Sometimes I have to spend more time running the business than actually doing business.

Q. What qualifications are you looking for when hiring an employee?
LC: I prefer some coursework in technical communication and/or web and graphics design, a willingness to learn, and basic understanding of Word, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, and a few other software programs that I use in my business. Right now, I hire college students as interns, so I provide online training to bring the skills up to the level I need and spend a great deal of time mentoring the intern. A good attitude and self motivation is required.

Q. How do communications stay the same in different areas where you travel? 
A. We are all people and access information the same, so usability principles are very important and remain similarly across the board. The difference is found in culture. For example, when in Korea, I would work with my employer and make suggestions for improving our documentation, he would kindly nod his head, say it was a good idea, yet nothing would happen. If my husband, who was my supervisor with this employer, would make the same suggestion, using the same words, it would be implemented immediately. I learned that as a woman and a subordinate to my husband (as far as profession—he’s a lawyer, a very revered profession in their culture—and position within the company), I would not be able to get much done. After the discovery, my husband and I would make suggestions conforming to their culture rather than American culture. Life became much easier, and we experienced much fewer communication breakdowns.

Q. As part of your job, are you asked to slant your writing to favor particular focus groups or consumers?
A. Absolutely—audience analysis, remember? I do not, however, mislead or misguide the group or consumer. I always consider who is using it, why it is being used, and how it is being used as an ongoing part of every project I complete. It’s my job as a TCer (technical communicator) to meet the needs of my client and the audience with honesty and integrity.