Technical writing/Persona/Joe Smith

Note: Need copyright free pictures for personas...

Background

Joe is from Idaho. At university he studied English literature and decided to spend a year teaching English as a foreign language, and did a four-week training course straight after university.

Now 28, Joe has spent more than 5 years teaching in various parts of Europe, including Sicily, Turkey and currently Prague.

Joe has become fed up with teaching and has decided that he needs a "proper job".

Interests

Joe reads a lot. His teaching job gives him plenty of time for reading as his classes are spread around the city.

Joe enjoys travelling and would like to see more of Western Europe, something which is not really possible on an EFL teacher's salary.

Goals

Personal

Eventually Joe would like to return to America and settle down.

One of Joe's ambitions is to learn a foreign language fluently. He learnt basic Italian and Turkish from his time teaching there, but has struggled with Czech.

Professional

To have a career which is stimulating and where progression is possible.

To be able to earn enough money to stop living from monthly pay cheque to monthly pay cheque.

Role and Tasks

At present Joe teaches English to learners of various levels, although most of his students are advanced and so they just sit and chat for the duration of the lesson.

Joe has taught all the textbooks several times and as such never prepares for lessons.

Environment

Joe spends most of his days travelling from location to location on public transport.

The school he works for has a small teacher's room, with a few textbooks and a PC with an internet connection. Joe goes to school most days, just to check his email.

Level and Use of Technical Writing Course

Joe is considering a career in technical writing and as such would use the introductory level course, mainly to see if it would be a worthwhile option for him.

Joe uses the course to learn basic information about:

the kind of person that makes a good technical writer
where he could work and how much he could earn
basic information about XML and other trade tools