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.
Subject:Take the money and run? From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Wed, 25 Jun 1997 16:56:07 -0500
Chris Hamilton wondered whether a brief career diversion to
save the world from the year 2000 problem (while padding
his bank account) would hurt his future career prospects as
a techwhirler. Quite on the contrary... don't forget,
there's a huge market for documenting legacy applications
(including the Cobol stuff you mentioned), and I can see
two ways that this angle would benefit your writing career:
1. If the work goes well, set up a consulting firm that
specializes in documenting Cobol code so that people can
migrate it to new languages and new platforms if necessary
or appropriate. There's lots of work doing this,
particularly in companies that are migrating from
mainframes to cleint-server PC-based systems.
2. On your resume, record the years spent fixing the Cobol
as "Editing and proofreading and documenting legacy code".
This enhances your employability, IMHO, since it proves you
can do more than write.
One warning: Are you really sure you can get hooked up with
a firm that will get you lots of Year 2000 work? Will they
also pay your health, disability, etc. benefits? If you're
unsure about either answer, it might be better to stick
with your day job and do the Cobol consulting freelance
given that you have a new baby on the way.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
