Re: Advice for a New Tech Writer

Subject: Re: Advice for a New Tech Writer
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 2005 10:12:19 -0700


Leanne Rollins wrote:

My advice is to find a job where there is a substantial tech writing team
already in place. Most importantly, look for a strong mentor within the
company

A counter-suggestion: Strike out on your own. You'll probably make lots of mistakes (I sure did), but you'll learn more in a year than you'd learn at a company with established writers. By yourself, you'll learn how to make estimates, schedule projects and structure and design your documentation. At the end of a year, you'll be competent to handle just about any tech-writing job you come across. By contrast, in a company with establish writers, at the end of the year you'll probably still be the junior writer, with responsibility for almost none of these things.

The point being: it depends on the sort of person you are. For some people, finding a mentor undoubtedly works. For others, being an independent is the way to go.

--
Bruce Byfield 604-421-7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield

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