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Re: Finding a job without experience/finding experience without a job
Subject:Re: Finding a job without experience/finding experience without a job From:Richard Lewis <tech44writer -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:Cyndi Kessler <ckessler -at- gmail -dot- com>, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Tue, 31 Oct 2006 08:22:52 -0800 (PST)
Cyndi:
You are doing the right thing in volunteering at STC. I suggest in doing such that your volunteer work be as extroverted an activity as possible. While one may gain some exposure by, for example, working on the chapter newsletter, he/she will probably gain alot more networking wise by, for example, volunteering to be the official greeter. Typically, this is the person charged with getting to meetings early and walking up to each person who arrives to welcome them. This person also trys to get people to mix socially by, for example, walking up to seated tables of people and jumping into their conversation (doing such tends to cause others to move around more).
STC meetings can tend to be a gathering of introverts. In such situations, an extrovert who is able to make the meeting a more of a pleasant event by taking the lead in "icebreaking" will truely stand out to the positive.
I'm a new technical communicator; I have a B.A. in journalism and a
post-baccalaureate degree in Technical Communications. I am finding
it very difficult to find work as someone new to the industry due to
my lack of on the job experience. I have tried Monster, Dice,
craigslist.org, my university's job bank, Career Builder, Indeed,
which aggregates these sites and others, as well as the STC national
job bank, and the listings for the Phoenix chapter. I'm also starting
to volunteer for my local STC chapter in the hopes that I will make
some contacts.
I assumed that I would start out by working on contract jobs in order
to build up some experience, but that has been unsuccessful, mostly
because I'm not sure where to find them. I haven't been able to find
any agencies in the Phoenix or Tucson areas that specialize in
technical communications.
My question is: How does one find jobs without experience, or gain
experience without a job? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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