Xchanges

Abstract

The process of socialization by which a newly hired Technical Communication professional adapts to an organizational context consists of the following steps: formal training, preparing for employer’s expectations, transitioning from student to employee, new employee orientation, on-the-job training, and long-term professional and personal growth. A survey and analysis of peer-reviewed works relevant to these steps indicates that most studies deal with the first five of these steps with a greater degree of thoroughness than the final most crucial step. Many works in the literature emphasize the evolving role of the TC professional as a "boundary spanner" across various disciplines of the organization but few provide details on how to accomplish this. I have identified four potential elements of this final pathway to assist the TC professional in achieving the role of boundary spanner: leadership among your peers, ownership of your development, entrepreneurship of your growth and the growth of the organization, and stewardship of your goals and those of the organization.

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