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> Do you
> all think that TW is in the top 100 great careers, do you all think TW
> is still rapidly growing, etc.
Not long ago we went through the process of getting the US government to
let us hire, as a full time employee, first a German national, then a
Canadian national. In both cases, we consulted a list of occupations
that are in sufficient demand that the US labor market can't satisfy
internal to the US. The list is published somewhere on the INS pages, so
you can verify its existence.
Good technical writers will be in demand for the forseeable future, with
variations by geographic area. However, just what technical writers do
will change somewhat as technology and preferences change. I keep
having to remind people that five years ago most technical writers
hadn't a clue about HTML and had no idea how to write a Help file. Here
in Silicon Valley these days, unless you can list familiarity with HTML
and a popular Help engine on your resume, you're not going to be in high
demand.
Similarly, writing manuals for various hardware and software products is
probably going to be in demand for the next 5-10 years, although the
nature of those manuals may change. And as the demand for online
learning skyrockets (as I think it will), the line between manuals and
online course development will get quite blurry.
But I firmly believe that there will be a continuing and high demand for
"explainers" of technology.
