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  • Content strategy jobs survey – results roundup

    For those who missed the results of Firehead's Content Strategy Hiring Trends Survey, here are the quick links to all our posts. We're also looking at pulling the data into an infographic to round off the series – watch this space. Content strategy jobs survey results part 1 – who’s hiring and what are they…

    Category: Content Strategy

    29 April 2013
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy jobs survey results part 6 – the business

    How does content strategy save money on content production and/or for your business? In our final Content Strategy Hiring Trends Survey* question, we asked our survey-takers: ‘What new process, method, or trend that have you implemented in the past three years that has saved your organisation or client the most money (time)?’ We had quite…

    Category: Content Strategy

    15 April 2013
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy jobs survey results part 5 – can’t get

    We’re coming to the end of posting the results from our Content Strategy Hiring Trends Survey*. Our penultimate – and epic – post raises issues employers are currently having when they recruit content strategists.

    Category: Content Strategy

    11 March 2013
    CJ Walker

  • 2013 content and comms conference calendar

    A lovely brew of conferences for digital communicators is lining up for 2013 – all listed and updated here. In Firehead's annual conference calendar, we've mainly focused on events within our main digital comms recruitment area of the UK and mainland Europe, but with a nod to some of the bigger events in the US…

    Category: Conferences

    11 February 2013
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy jobs survey results part 4 – what skills/experience

    Aka: ‘10 ways for content strategists to get a pay rise’. How much hirers are paying for both freelance and salaried content strategy jobs was the topic of our first survey results post on pay. Now we review our Content Strategy Hiring Trends Survey* responses for what hirers will pay more for when hiring in…

    Category: Content Strategy

    4 February 2013
    CJ Walker

  • Trends in digital communications, jobs and talent in 2013

    What will 2013 hold for employers and for communication professionals seeking work in digital communications? Firehead presents a set of predictions and trends that we think will be pertinent over the next 12 months.

    Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Market Trends, Technical Communication

    27 December 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Making the business case for content strategy – exclusive book

    Finally, a book on content strategy that empowers clients, employers and other decision-makers get to grips with content strategy – jump to our sneak preview below for an exclusive read! In Content Strategy: Connecting the dots between business, brand, and benefits, Rahel Anne Bailie and Noz Urbina have put together the first content strategy book to…

    Category: Content Strategy

    11 December 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy jobs survey results part 3 – how much

    When it comes to rates and salaries for the job, it’s the ‘how much’ that everyone wants to know. In the evolving field of content strategy, the most accurate answer is ‘it depends’. But as part of our Content Strategy Hiring Trends Survey*, we wanted to at least get some idea of where employers rate content…

    Category: Content Strategy

    27 November 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy jobs survey results part 2 – how are

    In our second survey* post, we look at how employers are hiring in content strategists. (For more on our content strategy recruitment trends survey, see our opening results post looking at who's hiring.) We asked: What methods are you using to find and recruit content strategy talent? Here are the results from 30 employers based in…

    Category: Content Strategy

    20 November 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy jobs survey results part 1 – who’s hiring

    Find out more about the jobs market for content strategy as we release the first set of results from our hiring trends survey. We’ll be publishing more findings, including pay rates and most desirable skills, in future posts.

    Category: Content Strategy

    25 October 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Brand journalist or content marketer – a job title debate

    Content marketing or brand journalism – what's the difference? And which job title will get you more work – brand journalist or content marketer? To some they are the same thing but there is debate over the definitions. Firehead blogger (and journalist) Fiona Cullinan tries to spot the difference… I’m a trained journalist. I now…

    Category: Content Marketing, Market Trends

    8 October 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Five background investigation checks recruiters employ to weed out CV

    After reading How to Catch Lying Job Seekers by Rene Shimada Siegel of High Tech Connect, I wanted to turn her thoughts around to you: the digital communications job seeker in this tough market and the background investigations that you face when you apply for a new job. I often hear claims in HR and…

    Category: Market Trends, Recruitment

    4 September 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Interview with a… Brand Strategist

    A very special guest is sitting in Firehead’s interview hot seat this month: Sean Duffy, founder of Duffy Agency. Sean is one of the world’s leading brand strategists with 25 years’ experience working with clients ranging from IKEA to GSK. Here he reveals the tasks, challenges, background and skills you need to be a brand…

    Category: Professional Development and Training

    11 June 2012
    CJ Walker

  • A war for (your) talent is coming – how can you

    Digital communicators of the world: I have some really good news for you. Economic forecasts abound with predictions of another 'war for talent' coming soon to a computer near you. (For the best and brightest, of course, but hey, we digital people are hip.) It appears to already be underway in Silicon Valley, where top…

    Category: Market Trends

    30 April 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Interview with a… Web Content Manager

    Ever wanted to know what a web content manager does, how much the job pays or how to break into content management? We asked Stefan Halley, a web content manager for a company with a global web presence, all about his work and how he got into it. (For other content and comms roles, check…

    Category: Professional Development and Training

    23 April 2012
    CJ Walker

  • The problem with hiring a content strategist is…

    We've had some strong and opinionated responses so far to our Content Strategy Recruitment Trends survey – particularly when it comes to the topic of hiring a content strategist. Finding a good match isn't easy, particularly in a field which is still trying to define itself and its tasks, and in an industry where content…

    Category: Content Strategy

    2 April 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Interview with an… Information Architect

    Our job insight series continues with well-known American DITA author Julio Vazquez, who talks about his work as a senior IA and coming into the field from a background in technical writing and support programming. What does his work involve and what advice does he have for budding IAs? What is your job title? As…

    Category: Information Architecture, Professional Development and Training

    19 March 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy hiring trends survey

    It turns out that the ancient Babylonians and Firehead have something in common –and no it's not our penchant for lovely gardens and long hair. Like our ancient forerunners, who conducted the world's first population census in 3800BC, we are taking our own first steps into the world of surveys. One which we aim to…

    Category: Content Strategy, Firehead.net News

    5 March 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Interview panic question #1: “Why did you leave your last

    Besides, possibly, "Tell me more about yourself", the other most dreaded interview question candidates ask me about is: "Why did you leave your last job?" This one's always tricky because you want to present yourself in the best light and yet also be honest about why you're moving on from a former employer. Usually, this…

    Category: Interviews, Recruitment

    5 March 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Should you apply if you don’t fit the job spec?

    Let me begin to answer this with a classic video of Maru the cat trying every which way to fit into a small box. Because sometimes, no matter how hard you try, or how much you want it to be true, there is no way that you are going to fit into that box! The…

    Category: Recruitment

    6 February 2012
    CJ Walker

  • How I teach myself new digital content skills using cake!

    Our blog manager here at Firehead is Fiona Cullinan, who jumped from print journalism in 2000 to become a freelance digital editor and producer. Here she explains how she keeps her training current in the digital space with no employer to fund her development and little budget to play with. As a long-time freelancer, I…

    Category: Professional Development and Training

    30 January 2012
    CJ Walker

  • 2012 European content and comms conferences

    Find out which conferences should be on your learning and networking radar this year. We’ve primarily listed the European ones in the areas Firehead recruits for, but there are also some major events happening in the US and elsewhere if you’re prepared to make the trip. As ever, we’d love to hear your own suggestions…

    Category: Conferences

    23 January 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Which digital skills are in demand in 2012 (and which

    Just before Christmas, an Econsultancy survey identified a lack of staff with suitable digital skills as one of the key barriers to business growth. According to respondents, the top three most difficult skill areas to recruit for were: Web analytics and data Social media Content marketing These three fields were also forecast to be the…

    Category: Market Trends, Market Trends, Recruitment

    11 January 2012
    CJ Walker

  • 8 ways to stay ahead of the career curve in

    So 2012 is here! The year is fresh and full of promise and most of us are plotting for it to be a good one by setting new goals. Last January, we posted Six devious tricks for New Year career success, offering tricks to overcome New Year Resolution fails. This year, we're taking it a…

    Category: Professional Development and Training, Reading, Recruitment

    1 January 2012
    CJ Walker

  • Interview with a… UX Consultant

    We’re delighted to welcome Chris Atherton, a super-smart user experience consultant from the UK, to our job interview series which delves deeper into the content and comms roles that Firehead recruits for. What does being a UX specialist involve exactly, what experience is desirable and what are the pay scales? All will be revealed… What…

    Category: Information Architecture, Professional Development and Training, Usability

    14 November 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Interview with a… Web Content Editor

    Firehead’s interview series on jobs we recruit for continues with Ali Turnbull, a leading content editor and strategist based in the north of England. What does being a content editor involve, what skills do you need to get into web editing and how much does it pay? What is your job title? To the taxman…

    Category: Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training

    7 November 2011
    CJ Walker

  • What news from Tekom and TCWorld 2011?

    Here's a quick round-up of links from this year's Tekom trade fair and TCWorld conference, Europe's biggest tech comm event, which took place in Wiesbaden, Germany, last month. See the official programme TCWorld conference and Tekom trade show program - the conference brochure has been uploaded to Scribd. A great idea to get an overview…

    Category: Conferences, Technical Communication

    31 October 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Interview with a… Software Content Strategist

    Ever wanted to go behind the scenes of your ideal job and see what’s involved? In Firehead’s ‘Interview with a…’ series, we are talking to people in content strategy, technical communications and a number of other job titles that we recruit for. We're also looking for more interviewees, so scroll to the end for an…

    Category: Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication

    24 October 2011
    CJ Walker

  • The content person’s guide to conference networking (pt 2)

    After yesterday’s conference networking guide for content people (pt 1), which featured 10 tips for ultimate conference networking, here is some solid grounding that I think applies to everyone in all situations when networking: Be professional First impressions are based on both professional and personal factors. Make sure, when you present yourself, both sides look…

    Category: Conferences, Professional Development and Training

    20 September 2011
    CJ Walker

  • The content person’s guide to conference networking (pt 1)

    Recently I read a really great post about networking at conferences called 'How to Connect a Conference: Or, I Can’t See your IQ From Across the Room' by Jason Seiden. It’s fantastic. Jason writes for a marketing and HR crowd but he got me thinking about technical communicators and web content people, how we network…

    Category: Conferences, Professional Development and Training

    19 September 2011
    CJ Walker

  • What do employers want? We survey 30 content strategy job

    What do the people hiring content strategists want from their ideal job candidate? Are certain degrees or backgrounds more desirable to them? What do employers see as the tasks and the skills of content strategy? And, finally, what kind of salary is on offer? We’ve attempted to answer some of these questions below. This summer…

    Category: Content Strategy, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Recruitment

    6 September 2011
    CJ Walker

  • How to get your next content strategy job

    There are many content strategists, and transitioning content strategy people, gathering in London this week for Content Strategy Forum 2011 – the follow-up to CS Forum 2010, which Firehead co-organised. Meanwhile, over in Cleveland, Content Marketing World kicks off for content marketers, with one of our favourite content people, Joe Pulizzi. But while attendees will…

    Category: Content Strategy, Recruitment

    5 September 2011
    CJ Walker

  • 10 CV buzzwords to avoid – and what to replace

    Summer's almost over and you might be thinking about polishing up your CV. If you're like most of the human race, your CV will not be as good as it could be. Or at least you know it could be better – it could always be better. One easy way to put your application closer…

    Category: CVs, Recruitment

    15 August 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Interview with a… Technical Editor

    We love our new 'Interview with a…' series because it lets us go behind the scenes of various job titles that we recruit for. Next up we talk to Theresa Cameron, a technical editor based in Paris. Firehead is the market leader in Europe for tech comms recruitment, so we jumped at the chance to…

    Category: Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication

    20 June 2011
    CJ Walker

  • It’s our blog’s second birthday – and you’re invited!

    The Firehead blog turns two years old today – a big step in any digital toddler's life as we support the work of our big sister Firehead.net, Europe's leading recruiter of technical communication, web content and IT specialists. More importantly, it means we get to thank contributors, issue an interesting invitation to readers and reward…

    Category: Firehead.net News

    16 June 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Interview with an… Information Designer

    Firehead recruits web content and tech comms candidates and places them with clients across the UK and mainland Europe. But what do our candidates actually do, how did they get into it and what/how do they charge? In a new blog series, we are talking to some of the leading practitioners in their field. We…

    Category: Professional Development and Training

    8 June 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Get 20% off Congility 2011 conference with Firehead!

    The worlds of technical and web marketing communications are colliding as content becomes agile across different platforms online and in print. Congility 2011 (24-26 May) is a UK-based conference that aims to integrate both sides together with big name speakers, a day of workshops, two days of presentations and plenty of learning opportunities on both…

    Category: Conferences, Content Strategy, Firehead.net News

    17 May 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Six common CV mistakes that will land you in the

    Today I am going to rant. While it’s not my nature to focus on the negative, as a recruiter I often ponder the state of CVs I see, often from some pretty fancy people. It just makes me wonder WHY? John Jantsch wrote a great post about accentuating the negative that’s got me thinking it’s…

    Category: CVs, Recruitment

    21 April 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy, taxonomy and ontology links

    Fresh from the Firehead bookmarks, here is our round-up of recent content strategy posts we've enjoyed this month. We've also dug into the archives and pulled out our bookmarks on taxonomy and ontology. Enjoy! Content strategy Using the Valuable Content Checklist: A Step-by-Step Guide for Different Content Types A great checklist for anyone who has…

    Category: Content Strategy

    18 April 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy and tech comms conferences in 2011

    Want to boost your skills, increase your knowledge and network with fellow content and tech comms people? Here’s a round-up of conferences in the UK, Europe and some further afield to fill out your professional development calendar this year. Feel free to add more in the comments if there are any we have missed. CONFAB,…

    Category: Conferences, Content Strategy

    11 April 2011
    CJ Walker

  • How to look for content clues in your analytics

    Our guest blogger this month is the wonderful Clare O'Brien, who heads up London-based content strategy and digital communications consultancy, CDA. She is also a woman on a mission to go beyond pure numbers to find insights that businesses can use to make content decisions… Businesses have become fixated by metrics We seem to be…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Tools and Analytics

    4 April 2011
    CJ Walker

  • 10 European content strategists to watch – Boye & Co

    Who are the people to watch when it comes to content strategy’s development in Europe? Well, last week, Boye & Co the international community for web and intranet professionals, made a list – and we were very happy to discover that Firehead is on it! Full story on Boye & Co… Content strategy in Europe – people to…

    Category: Content Strategy, Firehead.net News

    28 March 2011
    CJ Walker

  • In pictures: Firehead goes to the UN

    Life has been a little crazy at Firehead in the last month. As well as a trip to France to see our new French office and visit friends, I was also due to meet a group of content strategists at another location in Europe. Can you guess where? Lots of flags, security, one of only…

    Category: Firehead.net News

    16 March 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy must-sees at SXSW Interactive 2011

    For the last two years I've attended the exhausting, entertaining and expert-filled SXSW Interactive web festival in Austin, Texas. Last year was a breakthrough year for content strategy, which landed firmly on the SXSW radar – not least because of Kristina Halvorson's rallying talk Content Strategy FTW! and Margot Bloomstein's very successful marketing strategy of…

    Category: Conferences, Content Strategy

    9 March 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Flowchart: Who can sort your content strategy?

    Clients in search of a content strategy will likely be asking the following questions: What is going on with our website? Why aren't more users converting into sales? Do we know what the problems are? Can we fix it ourselves? What skills are needed to solve our problems? Who can help us? How much is…

    Category: Content Strategy, Firehead.net News, Tools and Analytics

    7 March 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy, recruitment and infoviz must-reads

    Here’s our monthly selection of must-reads from the Firehead bookmarks of the last few weeks. Enjoy! Content strategy reads What’s the Difference Between Content Strategy & Content Marketing? As the lines between content marketing and content strategy become blurred, Leen Jones, a content strategy consultant (and Firehead guest blogger), defines the difference between the two…

    Category: Content Strategy

    28 February 2011
    CJ Walker

  • What I talk about when I talk about content strategy

    This month we welcome Mike Brown of Word Forge in the UK as our most honoured guest blogger. Content mechanic Mike goes under the hood of content strategy as a term and finds it wanting. So is there a fix? How can you make clients care about their content more deeply than their need to…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger

    21 February 2011
    CJ Walker

  • How do you localise content for a global audience?

    Last week, Firehead CEO CJ Walker blogged her review of CS Applied 2011, the content strategy conference held in London last month. As web content recruiters for clients in Europe, and having to operate in a number of languages, we were particularly fascinated by Seth Bindernagel's localisation case study for Mozilla. Seth is Mozilla's localisation…

    Category: Conferences, Content Strategy, Localisation

    1 February 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Did you catch these great content strategy links?

    Here’s our monthly selection of must-reads from the Firehead bookmarks of the last few weeks. Enjoy! Content Strategy reads Making things that matter: mapping a creative content strategy Can art be translated to the web? Now London-based content strategist Elizabeth McGuane gives her thoughts about her recent talk at the Dublin Art Fair about art…

    Category: Content Strategy

    27 January 2011
    CJ Walker

  • Six devious tricks for New Year career success

    Vive la Resolution! The year is fresh and full of promise and most of us are plotting for it to be a good one for personal fulfilment, for health, for holidays, for a new job, for a promotion, for whatever your career goals are. But (there's always a but)... The reality we must also face…

    Category: Conferences, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Recruitment

    6 January 2011
    CJ Walker

  • When is the best time of year to look for

    At Firehead, as recruiters, we’re often asked when is the best time to ‘put yourself on the market’ when you’re looking for work. This is an honest enough question if you need a job. As this question pops up even more frequently coming up to the holidays, I thought I’d address it here. This is…

    Category: Market Trends, Recruitment

    27 December 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Get a glimpse of the newest web content book, Clout

    Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web Content was published last week and we feel it’s a must-read for web content and technical communication professionals. Author and content strategy expert Colleen Jones has kindly given us permission to reproduce an extract from the sample chapter called Rhetoric: The Art of Influence. In the chapter,…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Technical Communication

    13 December 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Overheard: how rejection can lead to your ideal job

    There is a great presentation on Stanford University's site about the growing trend for data visualisation for anyone looking to get into this relatively new and niche area of content creation. It's an hour long mix of interviews and resources, and well worth a view. Don't be put off by the title, though: Journalism in…

    Category: Graphic Design, Interviews, Market Trends, Overheard

    2 December 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy and accessibility – a natural partnership

    Technical writer Karen Mardahl outlines the benefits of working accessibility into your content strategy and provides some easy how-tos and resources to get you started. If we as professionals are embracing content strategy then we as professionals are also embracing accessibility. Accessibility seems to be avoided in strategy planning because it is “too expensive”, “too…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Professional Development and Training, STC, Technical Communication, Usability

    29 November 2010
    CJ Walker

  • How Bitesize content strategy helps clients take a first step

    Last week we announced Firehead Bitesize – cost-effective content strategy plug-ins for business. Here, Ali Turnbull, one of Firehead Bitesize’s project leaders and head of fit to print in the UK, explains the logic behind taking a small step into your content rather than an expensive giant leap. Where does Firehead’s new Bitesize content audit…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger

    22 November 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Will content strategy offer job security?

    Having had about eight job titles in two years, I know I'm not alone in changing or reviewing my title to reflect new skills and work tasks. Now it's content strategy that is the big ask – and it's making a certain job title very desirable in 2010. Technical communicator Jerry Bartlett reviews his own…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication

    21 October 2010
    CJ Walker

  • European content conferences you need to know about

    All summer, we at Firehead have been wanting to put together a diary of useful conferences in Europe for content and communication people. Now that the kids have gone back to school, perhaps now is the best time when learning is on our collective mind. So if want to update your knowledge or you’ve just…

    Category: Conferences, Content Strategy, Graphic Design, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Usability

    14 October 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Tom Johnson: Finding a Content Strategy for your blog

    A double treat this week. Firstly, Firehead’s CEO, CJ Walker, has used her bewitching charms to persuade the most famous blogger in tech comms to guest-post here on Firehead. Tom Johnson is a senior technical writer for a non-profit organisation in Salt Lake City, Utah (supporting a community of 13 million users), and runs the…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Technical Communication

    11 October 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Happy European Day of Languages – now let’s talk content strategy,

    Or should that be Félicitations or Feliz or Alles gute zum…? Or, since we're blogging here and I just found a LOLcat translator: HAPPEH EUROPEAN DAI OV LANGUAGEZ! If you don't already know, Firehead is a content and communications recruitment specialist based in Europe. That means NOT assuming that people's first language is English. It…

    Category: Content Strategy, Localisation, Technical Communication

    27 September 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Getting noticed with your online CV

    Michael Anderson is famous the world over for his innovative infographics résumé – a visual representation of his employment, academic and coffee intake skills that went viral via social media. If you want to get your online CV noticed, Mike is the man to ask. So with more and more of us posting our portfolios…

    Category: CVs, Graphic Design, Guest Blogger

    7 September 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Are non-traditional or visual CVs a good idea?

    Although they may not be mainstream, there is a trend for designers or creatives to offer a visual CV. But what are the pros and cons of 'creative' résumés for the rest of us? Let’s kick off the discussion with a case study of a CV that went viral across the internet (click graphic to…

    Category: CVs, Recruitment

    2 September 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Unsuck your CV and covering letter

    Unsuck-it.com was doing the social media rounds last week. Not only is it a bit of fun but we admire its aims: to remove the jargon and buzz phrases, and replace them with clear, plain English. So if you're prone to talking up your CV or covering letter, or think your work is 'bleeding edge',…

    Category: CVs

    30 August 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Asking the right questions in technical writing

    All good things must come to an end and, sadly, our series from guest blogger David Farbey listing the right questions for technical writers to ask different project experts is one of them. BUT… you can find all the posts in the series below: Questions for managers Questions for analysts Questions for engineers We’d like…

    Category: Technical Communication

    26 August 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Content strategy FAQs with Kristina Halvorson

    Did you tune into UIE’s fascinating Content Strategy for the Web book club last Tuesday? We did. It was less of a book discussion and more of a Q&A with the author Kristina Halvorson about content strategy and how to apply it. Here are some of my takeaways from the hour-long chat: 1. Are there…

    Category: Content Strategy, Overheard

    24 August 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Finding your Content Strategy ‘in’

    Content strategy jobs are forming from different content, communications and IT roles, as Rahel Bailie noted when she guest-blogged Anatomy of a Content Strategist for us. So that's the theory. Now what about the practical? Those looking for a job in the field need to realise that we're at a point in content strategy's developing…

    Category: Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training

    23 August 2010
    CJ Walker

  • David Farbey: What to ask engineers when writing tech comms

    What should technical writers ask engineers when writing support materials for a product's end users? Guest blogger and leading tech comms expert David Farbey wraps up his 'What to ask...' series with questions for engineers – previous posts include questions for analysts and managers.  As a technical writer – of user guides, tutorials, online help…

    Category: Guest Blogger, Technical Communication

    16 August 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Richard Sheffield: How to get a job in content strategy

    Practical CV tips, job-hunting advice, the “magic words” of content strategy… it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of getting hired as a content strategist. Richard Sheffield, author of The Web Content Strategist’s Bible about transitioning from technical author to content strategist, has kindly given us permission to reprint the section of his book…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger

    12 August 2010
    CJ Walker

  • David Farbey: What to ask managers when writing tech comms

    What can product development managers tell you that will help you as a technical writer to write clear, concise and useful support information? Leading tech comms expert David Farbey looks at the right questions for managers in the second of his series on 'What to ask...' analysts, managers and engineers As a technical writer –…

    Category: Guest Blogger, Technical Communication

    9 August 2010
    CJ Walker

  • David Farbey: What to ask analysts when writing tech comms

    What should technical writers ask analysts when writing technical documentation support materials for a product’s end users? Leading tech comms expert David Farbey looks at the right questions for analysts in the first of a three-part series on 'What to ask...' analysts, managers and engineers. As a technical writer – of user guides, tutorials, online…

    Category: Guest Blogger, Technical Communication

    2 August 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Kathy Hanbury: from Tech Comms to Content Strategy

    In the second of our guest blogger series featuring the insights of content experts around the world, Kathy Hanbury, founder of E3 Content Strategy in Vancouver, Canada, tells us how she made the jump from technical communicator to content strategist. We particularly love the mixture of personality traits and serendipity in her list of things…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Technical Communication

    8 July 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Kristina Halvorson’s content strategy reading list

    There’s no question that to learn about the field of content strategy, you should get online and read the fast-paced conversation going on on the Web. And when you do, you’ll find a lot of mention of the first book on content strategy, the seminal work in the field that defines what it is, what…

    Category: Content Strategy, Reading

    1 July 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Content Strategy starter kit for beginners

    You may have spotted that we've been writing rather a lot lately about content strategy. That's because it's a natural progression for web-savvy technical communicators, as well as a growth area for employment. So, although the information is accumulating quickly, we've compiled a Content Strategy Starter Kit to get you quickly up to speed. What…

    Category: Content Strategy, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training

    24 June 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Rahel Bailie’s anatomy of a content strategist

    Following our birthday callout for guest bloggers, we're like big kids at a birthday party because Firehead's first poster is one of the world's leading content strategists. Rahel Anne Bailie has gone from a background in technical communication and UX to head up Intentional Design, which applies content strategy to commerce. Here she talks about…

    Category: Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Professional Development and Training

    21 June 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Old or overqualified? Here’s how NOT to sell yourself

    I was fascinated to sit opposite a twentysomething recruitment consultant on the train to London last week. For over an hour, he rather loudly went through some poor IT candidate’s CV by mobile phone, publicly pulling it to pieces for all to hear. Even though I didn’t overhear the candidate’s name, I know where he…

    Category: CVs, Overheard

    3 June 2010
    CJ Walker

  • 1001 content strategy links

    Want to learn a little more about content strategy? We've picked out the best articles, posts, slideshows, connections, videos and links by content strategists and thought leaders, covering everything you could ever want to know about content strategy. UPDATE: we’ve divided our list into easier-to-use sections, from intros and must-reads to case studies and how-tos.…

    Category: Content Strategy, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Usability

    31 May 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Brand Your CV to Get Noticed

    I’ve been thinking about CV structure and what it means lately. There’s a lot of chatter out there about “branding” and it’s coming to your CV. Or at least, it should be if you want hiring managers to look at your CV to get the job. Are you still putting the same old-school-obligatory objective after…

    Category: CVs, Recruitment

    6 April 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Interview no-nos

    Here at Firehead, we’ve been talking a lot lately with our clients and community about about interviewing. We’ve been fascinated by some of the responses we get from interviewers about what candidates do. Sometimes, you just think things are obvious, but alas… We’ve compiled a list of our favourite interview no-nos and thought we would…

    Category: Interviews, Overheard, Recruitment

    1 April 2010
    CJ Walker

  • Submarine Toilet Flushing Instructions

    I went to the Technical Museum in Malmo, Sweden last weekend with my family and some friends. I was speaking with someone about what Technical Authors do for a living, when we came across an old submarine toilet, with instructions for use. Perfect! How to Use the Submarine Toilet Flushing System: After entering, close door…

    Category: Overheard

    13 August 2009
    CJ Walker

  • Augmented Reality: What are they Talking About?

    “What is Augmented Reality?” I hear all around me. Admittedly, it’s a funny name that lends itself to some entertaining explanations which have nothing to do with the technology. I found the best definition so far on How Stuff Works.com, which defines what it will do, as it’s really still in the making. “Video games have been entertaining us for…

    Category: Augmented reality, Market Trends

    3 August 2009
    CJ Walker

  • Blogging is fantastic!

    I just attended a fabulous technical communications conference for the TransAlpine chapter of the Society for Technical Commication in Vienna, Austria. We learned a lot about blogging and WordPress from some real pros. (And I just happen to be the president of the organisation this year.) The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is the world’s…

    Category: Firehead.net News, STC, Technical Communication

    16 June 2009
    CJ Walker