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Subject:Re: Learning C code as a technical writer From:Win Day <winday -at- IDIRECT -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 13 Nov 1995 15:42:38 -0500
<SNIP>
>Second, where I work, engineers are treated like gods. We are a hardware
>driven company, whatever that means, but software engineers, especially to
>produce the BIOS that wakes up all the chips, are in great demand. We can't
>hire enough good engineers, hardware or software. When we do, we steal them
>from somebody else. Writers, are, well, easier to find. What my boss thought
>we really want are writers that also have a bachelor's degree in electrical
>engineering, but I had to point out that if they had an engineering degree,
>they'd be better off getting paid to engineer, not to write. The delta has
>to be $25,000 per year more for engineers than tech writers. So, we've
>decided that the next writer should at least have an Associate's degree in
>electrical engineering. Which means *I* couldn't even get hired.
<SNIP>
Either your engineers are WAY overpaid, or you as a technical writer are WAY
underpaid.
I'm a chemical engineer; I had 8 years of engineering experience before I
switched to technical writing 3 years ago. I earn more per hour as a
technical writer than I ever did as an engineer.
Just my $0.03 CDN (about $0.02 US).
Win
Win Day
Technical Writer/Editor
Email: winday -at- idirect -dot- com