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Harry Husted wondered: <<I have worked as a writer for years. I only
worked as a technical writer for a very brief time (about one year
out of nearly 20). I see ads for technical writers all the time but
each job I see listed states you must have experience with the
program or application they are using. How can i break into the
technical writing field if every job lead specifies you must have
experience with the program or system they are using?>>
How? By getting that experience. <g> You can find courses in most
popular programs in just about any big city, or better still, save
several hundred dollars and download a demo version of the software,
then pick up a "For Dummies" or "Learn X in 7 days" type of book that
teaches you how to use the software. In fact, many of these books
contain the demo version on a CD tucked into the book, so you don't
even have to download a copy.
Spend a week getting up to speed on the software, and use it to write
a manual on the basics of using the software! By the end of the week,
you'll have both basic skills in the software, and a portfolio item
you can use to prove that you have those skills.
<<Should I focus my technical writing on nontechnical writing areas?>>
Focus on work that you'd love to do. For example: http://www.geoff-
hart.com/resources/2006/finding-work.htm
Since it wasn't apparent to at least one reader of the article, I
hasten to add that this article specifically avoids discussing things
like Monster.com and other modern job-hunting tools: I figured
everyone knows about these already, and that they've been written
about in so much depth I had nothing new to say. Instead, I propose a
bunch of things most people don't think of in their job search --
like finding out what you'd love to do before you try to find a job
in that area.
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