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Subject:Freelance, contract part-time From:Karl Norman <kylesimmons0164 -at- gmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Wed, 20 May 2015 16:40:59 +0000
I've noticed a number of contributors here and in other tech writer forums
have gone rogue and begun freelancing at some point in their careers. Seems
the trend is to get the feet wet with a big company for x years and then
make the switch to freelance/contract work. Maybe some of you could expound
upon your decisions to make that change. What were the determining factors?
How did you feel confident that you could go it alone?
I'm at the beginning of my career. I've been with a medium size company for
10 months, and I'm working on building a document control department.
There's plenty of opportunity for me to grow here, but a significant part
of me doesn't care about the work. I've pursued working with nonprofits,
helping with procedures and ISO documentation, and I like that kind of work
better than my current position. I just like the working relationship I
have with small organizations. But, obviously the bills have to be paid,
and tech writing as a value added service is a hard sell to small
businesses and nonprofits. Do any of you rogues have advice for someone who
might want to leave his cubicle? Most importantly, how do you ensure the
bills get paid?
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