TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
One caveat..Gotta show that degree these days. So many humanities
graduates out there, that the "paper" has become an admissions card.
Bill
------------------------------------------------------------------------
On
Fri, 15 Sep 1995, Gwen Barnes wrote:
> -> I don't know about anyone else here, but my SAT scores are extremely
> -> outdated! (Well, not THAT outdated <grin>!) If someone wants to know for
> -> a job in 1995 how I performed on a test sometime in the 1970s, I'm sorry,
> I never took the SAT. In fact, I never graduated from high school. I
> took a year's worth of courses (pottery, sculpture, art history, martial
> arts <g> and a bit of English) at a community college to qualify for
> the university's "goofed off in high school and blew it but wants a
> second chance" admission policy. Took still more art classes <g>
> Transferred to another university which also waived admissions testing
> since all I needed to prove was that any other university on the planet
> had already admitted me. They calculated GPA on a scale of 9, so I have
> no idea what my graduating GPA works out to in the way most other
> universities calculate them. I was 34 when I graduated.
> The creative writing degree helped to some extent to get me the job I
> have now, but what really qualified me to work here was experience I
> gained through an expensive and time consuming hobby. Our company does
> not have an "HR" department, and from the sound of it, I wouldn't get as
> far as an interview with any company that does.
> If I don't fit the "ideal profile" for companies that want to know my
> friggin test scores from college, all I can say is they probably
> wouldn't fit my "ideal profile" of companies to work for. Results are
> what go on the bottom line, not test scores and GPAs.
> Some of the people here have college degrees, a lot of them don't. We
> hire self-taught programmers who don't have degrees, if they can show us
> they do good work. I like it that way ...