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Subject:Re: Am I experienced? From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 16 Oct 2000 09:30:40 -0700 (PDT)
--- Martha Silverspring <silverspring9235 -at- go -dot- com> wrote:
> After years of doing writing at my various jobs, I got my first
> 'real' job in technical writing 6 months ago. At the same time, I
> started a freelance contract.
> Now my department has been "reorganized" (eviscerated). The options
> we've been offered are starting to look like jive and I may need to
> look for another day job (the contract is still going).
> The place I've been working during the day has paid me very well.
> How much experience can I legitimately claim? Does 6 months of
> simultaneously working two jobs add up to a year?
> (Sure feels like it!) Can I expect commensurate big bucks? All
> feedback is gratefully accepted.
A resume, or a job application for that matter, need not be viewed as a
document requiring you to put yourself in the worst possible light. If
you think there is a question about whether or not you have the
experience to make "big bucks", then you need to consider structuring
your resume around what you've done rather than how long you've done
it.
Just as an exercise for yourself, make a list of the things you have
accomplished that were writing things. List all of the documents you
have written from brochures to quick reference cards, to whatever. If
you worked with others on a document, list those, too. (Just don't take
credit for doing ALL the work when you were part of a team.)Take the
best of those--or as many as it takes to fill most of a page--and list
them in your resume under "Accomplishments."
Then let your record speak for itself. Years of experience can seem
very irrelevant when stacked up against a strong list of accomplishments.
