Re: What Defines "Entry-Level"?

[Rowena Hart <rhart -at- INTRINSYC -dot- COM>]

Matt wrote:

"So, I restructured my resume a little. I added up all of the years that I
had done freelance writing and editing and various other things to pay my
tuition, and put right up top: X years editing experience. Y years writing
experience. Z years teaching writing at the college level. And so on."

I couldn't agree more.  For about two years I moved back and forth between
marketing and technical writing jobs.  When I finally settled on technical
writing I used my marketing background to revise my resume and sell, sell,
sell my skills.

Even though I was looking for a technical writing job, I put my marketing
skills right at the top: $xxx,000 in sales in 1997, total number of sales
calls, total number of new contacts in x, y, and z markets, total number of
proposals written, percentage of those proposals that led to contracts,
number of successful grant applications written, value of grants, etc.

"Entry-level" writers should note how many of those marketing tasks actually
involved technical writing.  I used the same approach to list my writing
skills and experience, and the rapid-fire calls for interviews were truly
head-swelling.  Of course, I still had to prove my stuff with a portfolio
and interview.

ALSO -- don't hesitate to draft a new description for a job you performed
several years ago.  Just because you were a "Laboratory Production Assisant
Level 2" in a job in 1987 doesn't mean that you weren't actually working as
a "Technical Writer".  Concentrate on describing what you did, instead of
what your title was.

- Rowena