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You've received a lot of remarks suggesting that you could get paid more at
McDonalds or the local convenience store. While this may be true, those
jobs won't further your career as a technical writer.
Without details of where you live & what the market is like for you, I'd
concur with the other advise you've been given: evaluate the job based on
what skills, experience, and mentoring you can get out of it because money
is not going to be much of a factor in this case. If it appears to be
strictly clerical, it would be better to pass.
However, if there is the chance that you will actually do some writing &
editing in the next 6 months, you might bite the bullet and work for
$10/hr. What I would expect to get out of that scenario is a little
experience, a resume builder, a small portfolio, and some knowledge of how
business works. I would not expect to be hired as an employee at a rate
much higher than what you'll be receiving as a contractor/temp--it doesn't
sound like this company will pony up. So I would treat this experience as a
stepping stone--learn what you can and move on quickly. (The alternative is
to continue to be unemployed and 6 months from now find yourself with no
more experience than you have today.)
Personal experience--in 1990 I was unemployed for 6 months after graduating
from college. The job market today reminds me very much of that market. I
took a job as a technical writer in Duluth, MN (a very small city) for
$13,000 a year (this was the equivalent of what I could have made at Burger
King). I worked there for 4 months, had some nice samples of my work, moved
down to Minneapolis and took a job for about 50% more pay. Still not that
great...but, within 4 years I was making 3 times my starting pay. In the 11
years since that job, I have built on experience & moved to new
opportunities that pay far more than I ever dreamed I would make. (I just
looked at my check--my current 401K contribution is more than my salary was
at that job!)
So while some people might think working for small change is akin to
prostitution, I would argue that they are entitled to think that from the
comfort of a good, high paying job. I sympathize with people who aren't
there yet & think you should jump at any opportunity that will get you
closer to where you want to ultimately be. Just know when it's time to move
on.
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