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> Beth Davy wrote
>
> >i consistently get the response that they "are
> >looking for someone with more experience. specifically, 3-5 years more
> >experience." <insert appropriate frustrated shreik>
> >so, any suggestions on how to get said experience, or alternatively, are
> >there any companies out there who will take a chance on fresh new talent
Welcome to Catch-22. After earning my M.A., I was reduced to pressing
phonograph records (remember those? - vinyl, yeah!) for a living. I
only got that job because the HR type (called the Personnel Manager in
those days) had been in the same boat when he graduated. A few weeks
later, a job in my field became available, and I moved from Pennsylvania
to Florida to seek my fortune. So, rule #1 is take any job that comes
along, and keep looking. Rule #2 is that when you have a job, any job,
it becomes easier to find employment. When unemployed, it is harder to
find employment. Life is perverse.
> When I was going to university we were told there was a terrible shortage of
> teachers. Teaching didn't sound terribly hard, and the pay was good, so lots
> of people flocked to teacher's colleges and education departments. By the
> time I got my BEd., the shortage was over and I think three people in my
> class got teaching jobs that year, and one of those had to go to the Arctic
> to find a position.
That doesn't always work, either. My wife, certified K-12, could not
get a teaching job in the Arctic at a school that was short 5 teachers
because she did not have enough Eskimo blood in her veins.
> Technical communication has been promoted, for a few years now, as the way
> for arts graduates to jump on the high tech gravy train and I would have to
> guess that most of the entry level non-technical tech writing positions are
> pretty much filled by now.
There is always a need for entry-level people somewhere. The disconnect
is when employers want career-length experience for entry-level pay.
Check any wish list on your favorite job board.
> I bought an Apple II, many years ago, to write a Ph.D. thesis that never got
> written. While not writing the thesis, I learned to program the Apple II.
> Though I am not a professional programmer, that skill turned out to be the
> key to my career. I now earn my living writing about a programming language.
Ah, serendipity!
> The world is full of arts grads. What there will never be enough of --
> because being one is hard -- is technical writers with real technical skill.
True. Here in the greater Philadelphia area, help system writers are
many. A former client needed someone with real hardware understanding
to finish a project that included a field service manual for some
serious hardware (40-feet long, very high tech, combining a knowledge of
mechanics, rf electronics, and digital electronics). This client
searched long and hard. With help from the TW community, only one
potential writer was located. The cost of the writer was not an issue.
> I suspect that what will get people into this profession in the future will
> not be experience so much as differentiation. Find a way to differentiate
> yourself -- and this means a hard technical skill of some sort -- and your
> chances will improve.
Differentiation -- finding a niche -- is the key to many businesses.
