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Subject:Re: Student's Questions From:"Teresa T. Ess" <t -dot- t -dot- ess -at- LARC -dot- NASA -dot- GOV> Date:Tue, 12 May 1998 08:59:21 -0400
At 09:14 PM 5/11/98 -0400, Sherry wrote:
>, but I'd need a BS first.(Right?).
>Am I going to be employable? Or am I wasting my time here?
No Sherry, you are not wasting your time. I recently interviewed 10
candidates for a technical editing job. Five of those candidates had
masters degrees in English. The person I selected for the job has not
finished her BA--she is taking one class a semester while she works full
time.
I selected her because she has a good portfolio of samples, is able to
speak intelligently about the samples and the work involved for each, and
used phrases like parallel structure and syntax. In other words, she proved
that she really understood the nature of the work and that she IS a
technical editor.
Our ad said the job required a BA/BS, but skill and knowledge were more
important.
Don't be afraid to respond to ads that say you need a BA. I hired a great
editor based on a well written cover letter, a well done portfolio, and
good references.
Good luck
Teresa
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Teresa T. Ess
Supervisor, Technical Publications Support
NCI Information Systems
NASA Langley Research Center
t -dot- t -dot- ess -at- larc -dot- nasa -dot- gov
1-757-864-8331
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