Re: Career longevity

[Lee Turner <Lee=Turner%Mkt=Svcs%Sys=Hou -at- BANGATE -dot- COMPAQ -dot- COM>]

"Shelly M. LaRock" <smlarock -at- MTU -dot- EDU> Wrote:


| Hi Everyone,

| I've been lurking for a while because I'm busy getting
| ready to graduate and join you in the ranks of
| professional
| technical writing!

| I was reading the misc.writing newsgroup a few weeks ago
| and read a posting by someone saying that it's rare for
| a tech writer to stay at a job for more than 2 or 3 years.
| His reasons for the short stays were that companies
| usually
| let TW's go after a short time, not because the TW quits
| or takes a different job.

| Is this true???  I realize that it's  possible for anyone
| to get let go from a job, but this guy made it sound like
| this is the norm, and that there's no TW's out there who
| can keep a job for more than a couple of years.

| Just curious, and hoping for a longer lasting job.

| Shelly La Rock
| smlarock -at- mtu -dot- edu


Well, this hasn't been my experience. I stayed at my first job out of college
for 1 1/2 years, but I've been at my current company (my second job since
college) for nearly 8 years. The poster on misc.writing may have been relating
his experience in this field, but I don't know that there is necessarily a
norm for how long technical writing positions last. I know some tech writers
who have moved around every two or three years because they're not satisfied
staying in one place for long, and I know others who have moved often because
their jobs didn't last. I guess what really determines how long a tech writing
job lasts is a combination of luck and the tech writer's desire to stay in
that job.

Good luck in your job hunting.

        Lee

===============================
Lee Turner
Compaq Computer Corporation
leet -at- bangate -dot- compaq -dot- com