Re: Career Path

[Sella Rush <SellaR -at- APPTECHSYS -dot- COM>]

This is a great topic, in part because it may help all of us on this
list realize the extreme diversity in our goals.  I've seen a number of
circumstances of people responding to others where it's clear that the
goals of each party are incompatible and the result is a complete lack
of understanding.

It is also great to learn about the options open to all of us.  I've
felt a sense of freedom by hearing others stories.

Here's some of the career paths/priorities I've noticed (lets see if we
can add to it):

Me:  tech writing gives me the chance to do the one thing I do better
than average, while at the same time lets me have fairly stable
employment and a decent salary.
Lots of people (not me) see this as a great lifetime job.  Personally,
I'm doing a full time gig with a company as training for doing freelance
work.  I also hope to publish articles and a book or two in the distant
future.  (I also write fiction on the side and do expect to publish this
altough not for enough money to live on!)

Others:

Tech writing/editing/publishing management
Teaching
Writing books for publishing
Freelancing (for a number of different reasons:  more money, greater
freedom, etc)
Editing/writing for magazines or other publications
Keeping up with cutting edge tech stuff

For some people, their priority is to work in an environment that is
attractive to them.  Personally, I'd love to figure out a way to go
around the world on disaster relief or aid projects, but technical
documentation doesn't seem to be a high priority during a disaster (!)
Other situations are more conducive, and I've heard people on this list
talking about their experiences.  The one that comes to mind is Robin
McCloud, who got to work for NASA as a tech writer (I think) and was
involved in the shuttle program.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sella Rush
Applied Technical Systems, Inc. (ATS)
Bremerton, Washington USA
Developers of  CCM Knowledge Discovery

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