Re: Trouble finding work

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

Maybe, but some may not like it.  In companies where the writers
have been people with English or journalism backgrounds with
little or no technical or product development capability, the
writers will tend to be seen as "glorified secretaries," whose
function is to "pretty up" materials that are authored by the
engineers.  These are the companies you just described, where
"tech writer" is a $20/hr (or lower) office position.  

In companies where the the writers have been people with 
technicalor developer backgrounds the writers will tend to be 
seen as "engineers with really great documentation skills," 
whose function is to not only document products, but in many 
cases identify development issues and solutions.  These are
the companies where "technical writer" is a $35/hr (or higher) 
R&D position.

The question is, which company and position has your education
and experience positioned you to end up in?

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Neilson" <neilson -at- alltel -dot- net>