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It amazes me how many of the requests for help on this list get at least one
answer which advises the writer to get his resume together. Sometimes the
reason cited is "just in case", but more frequently the sentiment is more
along the lines of "take this job and shove it." Incidentally, it seems to
me that many of these responses come from those who are independent
contractors or contracting company owners, that is, those who don't have to
deal with other people's inane decisions for longer than the lifetime of
their current project.
In my experience, being a technical writer involves a great level of
maturity and political finesse. In fact, just about any job requires putting
up with a certain percentage of inane decisions by pointy-haired bosses.
Incompetent management is rife. Why do we think that getting our resume
together is going to make it better? The chances are high that we are simply
going to trade our current political problems for new ones.
It seems some of us too easily give up on tough situations--simply because
we can, in today's high-tech market. The risk is practically zero, since
there is no problem in changing again another six months down the line. Now,
don't get me wrong, I'm not some old-time conservative and I'm not saying
you should put up with no-win situations. I've changed jobs twice this year,
because my dream job turned out to have the nightmare boss; and my resume is
always tuned. But I have a feeling that too many of us have a tendency to
turn our backs on problems rather than face them. As the philosopher Linus
van Pelt once said, "There is no problem so great and complicated that it
cannot be run away from."
A recent article on CNET indicated that the average amount of time high-tech
workers stay at a company is 18 months. Who are we technical writers to
break the trend, right?
Rebecca Rachmany
Commercemind
PO Box 920, Kfar Saba 44109
972-9-7642000 x217
Mobile: 050-900600
rebecca -at- commercemind -dot- com
