Becoming a Technical Writer in India - Part 2

(continued from part 1)

So after learning that I got a job and with an offer letter in-hand, I decided to travel to my hometown. I didn't plan the trip, nor did I book any ticket in advance; I just reached the bus station (dock). There I learned that there are no direct buses to my hometown, then I had to board a bus to the half-way point and then catch a new bus from there to my hometown. I got a bus to the half-way point (Kurnool), and it was a muddy route, and the journey was hectic, but I was just on cloud9 that I finally got a job!!! And kept thinking that my mum and dad would be so proud and happy to hear this.


I reached Kurnool at midnight, and it was almost the next day; I quickly found the next bus to Tirupathi and boarded it. Again the route was horrible, and I was sitting on the last row of the bus, which meant I was jumping every time a pothole or speed-breaker came :). Cut to the morning, I was home and told my parents, they were happy for me and wanted me to take up the job. My mum honestly had some concerns as to why I was not pursuing going abroad; I told her that I will do that after gaining some experience. So after this, I had to join the company soon in like 3 days, so I travelled back and joined the company.



First two days in the company went in induction meetings and paperwork. Then I got introduced to my manager, and my manager introduced me to the Technical Writing team. Looking back, I feel I was naïve during that time :). The team was big, and my manager was very strict. As the two of us were freshers to the company, our manager asked us to come at 8am every day to have time for learning and contribute to work. I learned that, like other departments, Technical Writing isn't going to have separate training schedule. Everything was going to be taught on-the-job!!! It was a fast-paced and hectic work environment at that time, and we both freshers slogged day in and out to learn and complete the work given to us.



The work environment was very tough to handle, and we used to be on our toes thinking about what the manager would say. Some instances got very serious with people on the team, and it went to the extent of them resigning due to that. But one good thing I should mention is that I have learned a big deal in that job due to the challenges that the seniors were giving to us. It made me think and come to a solution, but for some, the challenge was too much, and they bore the brunt of seniors verbally when they couldn't complete the task.



I am grateful for the troubleshooting work I did on my computer (so many software and game installations, etc.) after 10th grade, as that helped me solve problems when I started my career. I should thank my cousin-brother (Bablu) for instilling this computer knowledge in me. We played many games during childhood and broke our computers :).


It has been ten years in Technical Writing, and I must say it was one hell of a journey!