Re: anon job dissatisfaction

[Charlene Hirschi <hirschi -at- DIGITALPLA -dot- NET>]

Tizer:  You said it better than I could.  Anon, you need to start counting your
blessings and qwitcherbellyachin or move on.  I'm inclined to think the people
who know you may be right.  If you ever find "the ideal job" let the rest of us
know.  There is always going to be something to dislike.  Maybe it's time to get
out the old yellow pad and write down the pros and cons so you can see exactly
where you are in this job.  Good luck.

Tizer Fizz wrote:

> Dear Anon--
>
> I wish that I had your luck. I spent a year as an intern in the San
> Francisco Bay Area to gain some experience, which the internship never
> really provided and I had to survive on $7 hr and support my family.
>
> I had been making $40k a year as CNA. I took a big chance and a big
> financial hit because I wanted to write, not nurse.
>
> After the internship, I went job hunting and I was desperate. It showed all
> over my face. When I went for my first real Technical Writing job, I jumped
> at the chance. The downside was is that I did not negotiate well and they
> had set their pay to 26K a year. In the bay area, that's poverty line. I
> took it because I needed some real experience.
>
> A few months latter I was promoted to manager and given a 3k raise. That did
> little to help my financial situation and my stress level has gone through
> the roof. When I tried to hire other writers at 26k a year, I was greeted
> with a mixture of disbelief, horror, howls of laughter and anger.
>
> On the positive side I've written four manuals in one year, edited countless
> others, convinced the company to switch to Frame from WP and put together a
> small tech writing department.
>
> The flip side of that is I live from paycheck to paycheck and struggle with
> incredible stress. Why do I do it? I love to write and I love to see what I
> created go to clients.  Why did you become a Tech Writer?
>
> So, in my opinion, you may be bored, but you're not struggling financially.
> Unfortunately this company cannot afford to pay me what I want so next year,
> I'll be out there looking for another challenging position.
>
> In the end you may find that no matter where you are, you will find that
> bosses and non-tech writers haven't a clue what you do.
> You get little thanks for what you do. In addition, 90% is spent researching
> and planing.
> Not writing. At least that's what I have found.
>
> The "Big Picture" as you put it never presented itself to me I had to learn
> a whole new software system on my own with no training and they are still
> making changes daily. Evergreen documents are a way of life here.
>
> As for engineers, I often find that the best way to get them to talk is to
> offer them some home made cookies and bring a tape recorder, pen & pad.
>
> Good Luck
>
> Tizer.
>
> _______________________________________________________
> Get your free, private e-mail at http://mail.excite.com/
>
> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000==