Joshua Seale
Graduated, fall, 2005
Shortly after graduating from CSUCI with my Bachelor of Arts in English, I became a technical writer at Haas Automation in Oxnard. I am responsible for the creation, editing, and upkeep of technical documents and manuals relating to the operation, maintenance, and service of the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine tools that the company produces. I am also currently developing an internal online glossary of industry terms to help standardize vocabulary and usage for company documents in all departments.
My typical day usually involves meeting with engineers, fellow writers, machine assemblers, and/or company executives to gather information for a document. From there, I outline my project, determine if any drawings are needed and whether I can create them myself, and I generate a first draft. This gets "sanity checked" by the engineer in charge to ensure that I correctly interpreted his or her "tech talk", drawings are checked, and the document is further refined in subsequent drafts before release.
So, obviously I have benefited from all the writing practice I got while I worked on my degree. But what about all the literature I studied? Surely, there is no way to connect the works of George Eliot to machine tools, is there? Actually, my study of English and literature contained an overarching education on a way of thinking, and it bred an inquisitiveness that serves me well when I need to go find something out. Because of what I've learned through the study of literature, I approach every project critically, never taking anything for granted (which engineers notoriously tend to do when explaining their work), relentlessly tracking down necessary information and translating it into a document or manual that a machine operator or service person can use.
For the uninitiated, CNC machine tools can be quite the assault on the senses. They are loud when running, frequently dirty and gritty through the nature of their work, and their oils and coolants can smell terrible. I'll grant that they are quite a long way from Shakespeare and literary research, but make no mistake â?? my education as an English major prepared me very well for this career.