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Subject:Re: FWD: Looking for advice -- up to the job? From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 3 Jul 2002 06:20:49 -0700 (PDT)
Anonymous has a varied work history, both as a programmer and as a technical
writer, but finds himself in a bit of a quandry. It seems that Anon does not
consider herself the fastest mind in the business; skills and knowledge are
apparently obtained but often too slow to satisfy demanding employers (or
perhaps Anon's own sense of success or efficiency?). Now the question is what
to do: go into training, try writing for somebody who doesn't require an agile
mind, go back to programming, or something else? (At least, this is how I read
the post.)
Anon, one factor I failed to notice in your post that I think is critical to
you making your next move is, "What do YOU WANT to do?" Your post mentioned
that money seemed not to be a critical factor, so the only factor I see
remaining is what you want to do.
Let me try to approach this from a different angle. What do you LIKE to do?
Where do your talents and abilities lie? Your post tells us a lot about what
you perceive to be your weaknesses. What are your strengths? Reading between
the lines, I sense that you are dependable and thorough; you're probably
personable, too. So make an inventory of your strengths, and see if that tells
you anything about what you would like to do.
Try this question as well: If you could do anything at all, what would it be?
Again, I note that you claim money is not an issue, so I recommend you look at
what your heart tells you about what you like to do.
Once you figure out what you want to do, then it's just a matter of the resume
and interviewing mechanics to find out how you get into doing what you like,
but that's where *I* would focus, on the question of what your talents are and
what you would like to do.
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