Brief introduction and request for advice

["Laurence Starn" <lstarn -at- compuserve -dot- com>]

I recently discovered this list and wish I had known about it earlier. You
are certainly a knowledgeable and helpful group of folks.

During the past three years, I made a smooth career transition from teaching
to technical writing. My teaching experience had provided me with a strong
set of transferable skills, and my work as a technical writer was
consistently given positive reviews. Life was good: I had a full-time job
working for a company that I really liked. As the economy began to go south,
I survived five rounds of layoffs until October of last year when it became
my turn to take the long walk. I have been looking for work for the past
couple of months, but it seems like the qualifications for being a technical
writer have changed. Instead of being qualified by virtue of the fact that
you can write, employers now want to qualify you strictly on the basis of
your knowledge of tools and technologies.

I really enjoy this work and my employers so far have had nothing but
positive feedback for the work I have done. Even so, it seems that my
relative lack of experience is keeping me out of the game right now. I would
be grateful for any suggestions you people might have.

Laurence Starn
lstarn -at- compuserve -dot- com



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