Re: Part-time technical writing?

[Cirrus Matusek <CMatusek -at- LTDCOMMODITIES -dot- COM>]

i agree with geoff that working at home does not necessarily mean you'll get
to spend more time with your children, but i don't think that's what lori
was really inquiring about.  she sounds as if she's simply wondering how
hard it would be to obtain a part-time, out of the house, tech writing job.
in that case, lori, why not propose the idea to your current employer?  many
employers hire for full time, but once you're in, and have proven yourself
to be a likeable asset, they may be more flexible with regard to your hours.
best of luck.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geoff Hart [SMTP:Geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]
> Sent: Thursday, August 19, 1999 11:59 AM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Part-time technical writing?
>
> Lori Cattrell has <<...been working as a technical writer for
> about seven years. I have two children at home, and I really
> want to spend more time with them.>>
>
> Although working at home can certainly free up time (e.g.,
> less commuting, fewer unproductive meetings to attend, less
> time spent gossiping in the corridor), it's a myth that you'll
> automatically free up tons of personal time simply by
> switching to home work. In effect, if you're doing 40 or so
> hours of writing at work, you'll still have to do 40 hours of
> writing at home. Since you're replacing one set of distractions
> (co-workers) for another (kids), you'll probably be spending
> closer to 40 hours than to 20 hours working. Moreover,
> speaking as someone who's worked in both environments, I
> find the co-workers less exhausting. <g> YMMV, of course.
>
> <<Have any of you ever known of companies that hire
> technical writers for part-time positions? It seems to me the
> choices are full-time work or contract.>>
>
> The other main option is working as a consultant or
> freelancer. The difference between this and contract work is
> that the type of contract work you're describing tends to be
> full-time, on-site work, whereas consultants often have more
> freedom to work at home and only come to the office to talk
> with SMEs and discuss the progress of the project. Peter
> Kent's written an excellent treatment of this subject, but the
> book's at home so I can't give you full details; the title's
> something like "Making money in technical writing".
>
> <<I'm too scared to take the leap into contract work right now
> because I must have the income to pay the bills. I think I
> would spend too much time worrying about finding the next
> job.>>
>
> That's always been one of my concerns too, since I'm not Mr.
> Marketing. If you're worried about the stress of freelancing,
> whether on contract or as a consultant, the freelance life may
> not be for you. (Kent also has a good discussion of how to
> determine whether you're well-suited to the freelance life in
> his book.) How about a compromise solution? Ask your
> manager what alternatives exist at your company. You may
> be able to set up a telecommuting arrangement, in which you
> spend a certain number of days per week at home, or a "work
> sharing" arrangement, in which you work fewer hours per
> week (for less pay, since they have to pay someone else to do
> the work you're not doing), and spend the remainder of the
> time however you please. If this is really important to you,
> you might even consider switching employers to work for a
> company that offers such flexibility; techwr-l can probably
> provide you with good leads.
>
> --Geoff Hart @8^{)}     Pointe-Claire, Quebec
> geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
>
> "Perhaps there is something deep and profound behind all those sevens,
> something just calling out for us to discover it. But I
> suspect that it is only a pernicious, Pythagorean coincidence." George
> Miller, "The Magical Number Seven" (1956)
>
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