Heather Duggin
Interview Posted By: Ashley Smith
1. Can you tell us a little about your background? i.e. Where you grew up, what education do you have, a summary of your resume, did you always want to do what you are doing now, when did you start to become interested in STEM, what internships/ volunteering?
I grew up in Hillsboro, TN and graduated from Coffee County Central High school with my college-preparatory degree. After graduation, I started at a local community college, Motlow State, as a Journalism major. There, I completed core classes and was editor of the college newspaper.
After my time there, I transferred to Tennessee Tech University in beautiful and quiet, Cookeville, TN. I started as an English major, but quickly switched back to Journalism after discovering their tiny Journalism/Communications program. While there, I served as yearbook photographer, Editor page Editor, and Public Affairs intern. I wrote press releases, feature stories, and highlights about students at the university.
After graduating with my undergraduate degree, I transferred to Middle Tennessee State University to start work on my masters’ degree in Mass Communication. To help pay for school, I served as a Research Assistant, which first sparked my research and technology interest. I was the field director for our research polling sessions where I oversaw students calling Tennessee residents with questions about politics and social issues. Technology played a major role in research, as well as the theories we studied.
When I was a month away from graduating and desperately seeking employment, a high school friend posted a technical writing job at his software company. I applied and here I am. I never dreamed of being in a technology field, but I always knew that I wanted to write content that helped people.
I love being able to help users do their jobs better by providing the help they need to use our system.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
I am a technical writer. I write the how-to content or help guide for our safety software. Additionally, I write release notes about the new features and bug fixes in a release, so our customers know about the changes we have made.
On a day-to-day basis, I attend the morning standup meetings with our software developers, quality assurance, and product management teams. I review functionality that has been completed or moved to testing overnight. The majority of my team is off shore.
After reviewing items, I go into the system and test how it works. I review any error messages or labels. If I find an error, I report it and file a bug for someone to fix.
Then, I begin writing. I typically have an outline for the new functionality and what I plan to write because we spend a lot of time looking at the items before developers begin their work.
Outside of my normal duties, I work closely with other teams to ensure that changes are communicated internally. I also deploy images for our support team, so they can use them to help customers. I work with html code, and since on the job, have learned a great deal about syntax and coding. I am always looking for faster, more efficient processes, as well.
3. How does STEM relate to your job? How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
My job is primarily to help take the technical jargon from software developers and deliver it to customers in easily-understandable terms.
My degree prepared me to know how to communicate. Even though, I don’t have a background in software, I know how to effectively communicate concepts and information. Sometimes, it can be a bit difficult since I don’t understand all the ends and outs of software. However, I am never afraid to ask questions.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
No, I have never felt any discrimination for being a woman in a stem field. I have had a completely positive experience.
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is my lovely coworkers and getting to spend my day as an investigative reporter. I get to investigate all the tiny details and then report on them in the form of help information.
Since I haven’t been trained in technology or software, the worst part of my job is trying to grasp concepts that are over my head. It is great for my brain though.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I will let you know when I figure out how to do that ☺ No, seriously, work is important, but only a portion of life. Friends and family are really what matters most. Clique, yes. Any less true? No.
7. What do you define success as?
Success is being happy and healthy. When I was younger, I thought of success a little differently. I thought success meant money and acclaim. However, now, I think it is all about being a happy person in whatever you do.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
With a degree in communication, I would say being able to communicate is vitally important. I also believe having an open mind and being flexible and eager are also important.
I grew up in Hillsboro, TN and graduated from Coffee County Central High school with my college-preparatory degree. After graduation, I started at a local community college, Motlow State, as a Journalism major. There, I completed core classes and was editor of the college newspaper.
After my time there, I transferred to Tennessee Tech University in beautiful and quiet, Cookeville, TN. I started as an English major, but quickly switched back to Journalism after discovering their tiny Journalism/Communications program. While there, I served as yearbook photographer, Editor page Editor, and Public Affairs intern. I wrote press releases, feature stories, and highlights about students at the university.
After graduating with my undergraduate degree, I transferred to Middle Tennessee State University to start work on my masters’ degree in Mass Communication. To help pay for school, I served as a Research Assistant, which first sparked my research and technology interest. I was the field director for our research polling sessions where I oversaw students calling Tennessee residents with questions about politics and social issues. Technology played a major role in research, as well as the theories we studied.
When I was a month away from graduating and desperately seeking employment, a high school friend posted a technical writing job at his software company. I applied and here I am. I never dreamed of being in a technology field, but I always knew that I wanted to write content that helped people.
I love being able to help users do their jobs better by providing the help they need to use our system.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
I am a technical writer. I write the how-to content or help guide for our safety software. Additionally, I write release notes about the new features and bug fixes in a release, so our customers know about the changes we have made.
On a day-to-day basis, I attend the morning standup meetings with our software developers, quality assurance, and product management teams. I review functionality that has been completed or moved to testing overnight. The majority of my team is off shore.
After reviewing items, I go into the system and test how it works. I review any error messages or labels. If I find an error, I report it and file a bug for someone to fix.
Then, I begin writing. I typically have an outline for the new functionality and what I plan to write because we spend a lot of time looking at the items before developers begin their work.
Outside of my normal duties, I work closely with other teams to ensure that changes are communicated internally. I also deploy images for our support team, so they can use them to help customers. I work with html code, and since on the job, have learned a great deal about syntax and coding. I am always looking for faster, more efficient processes, as well.
3. How does STEM relate to your job? How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
My job is primarily to help take the technical jargon from software developers and deliver it to customers in easily-understandable terms.
My degree prepared me to know how to communicate. Even though, I don’t have a background in software, I know how to effectively communicate concepts and information. Sometimes, it can be a bit difficult since I don’t understand all the ends and outs of software. However, I am never afraid to ask questions.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
No, I have never felt any discrimination for being a woman in a stem field. I have had a completely positive experience.
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is my lovely coworkers and getting to spend my day as an investigative reporter. I get to investigate all the tiny details and then report on them in the form of help information.
Since I haven’t been trained in technology or software, the worst part of my job is trying to grasp concepts that are over my head. It is great for my brain though.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I will let you know when I figure out how to do that ☺ No, seriously, work is important, but only a portion of life. Friends and family are really what matters most. Clique, yes. Any less true? No.
7. What do you define success as?
Success is being happy and healthy. When I was younger, I thought of success a little differently. I thought success meant money and acclaim. However, now, I think it is all about being a happy person in whatever you do.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
With a degree in communication, I would say being able to communicate is vitally important. I also believe having an open mind and being flexible and eager are also important.
