TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
RE: Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be TWs.
Subject:RE: Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be TWs. From:"Andrew Dugas" <dugas -at- intalio -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 24 Jul 2002 10:34:57 -0700
If the university is a public entity (that is, a state school), don't hold
your breath. Public entities tend to move much slower than corporations
because the process is much more bureaucratic. Case in point, in December of
2001 I applied for a tech comm position advertised by a local city
government. In late June, I received a reply that my application had passed
the first stage and was qualified for the second stage. And there's another
stage after that! (Frankly, I had forgotten I'd even applied; I got another
job in January and have been real busy.)
As to your skill set and attitude, pretty darn good for someone just
entering the field. Add a little Java and you'll be rocking. You mention
Photoshop (good to have but not a dealmaker) but what about Frame? WebWorks?
RoboHelp? Word?
As to your worth, check the archives. Much depends on region, years
experience, etc. Too many variables for an easy answer. Go to the local STC
meetings and ask your local TWs.
Good luck,
Andy
PS: If you've got a decent job now that you can live with, I advise you to
hang out for a little while longer and build some experience on paper. Plus,
a $5K raise after, what, a year? is not bad and certainly not an insult. You
may think you are worth more (and may be right, too), but think long term.
Job-hopping at this stage of your career might seem good for the short term
but could hurt you in the mid term.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Buy RoboHelp Deluxe starting at only $798: you'll get RoboDemo, the hot new
software demonstration tool that's taking the Help authoring world by storm,
together with RoboHelp Office. Learn more at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
