Summary of Career-Changing Advice

[renee -at- edit-work -dot- com]

Hi,

I received a few requests to post a summary of the best career-changing 
advice I received from my post regarding my husband's job search. This is 
useful stuff for anyone looking to break into the tech writing field, 
although it's probably more useful if you're a mid-life career changer with 
a military background living in the Dallas area, who wants to move from 
tech work to technical writing!

Thanks again for all the advice,
Renee Hopkins
renee -at- edit-work -dot- com

The advice (edited and summarized): 

Sometimes the best thing you can do is to keep doing
what you're doing because tools are rarely the issue.
Sometimes it just takes time to find that 'right fit'.

One of the tricks I use--and I think it is very
effective for us folks who have experience--is to
point out that I've learned a dozen programming
languages and a dozen word processing/document
publishing systems, so one more shouldn't be all that
hard to learn. 

---

If you take one class, you should be eligible for a
lot of student discounts for software.  Society for
Technical Ccommunications dues are only $45 for
students, for example. Here's some student discounts
I've found for software:

Frontpage 45 day trial $7.00
Photoshop LE student price $50
Frame 60 $370
Flash 5 $99
Office 2000 pro ( student version) less than $200
Dreamweaver 3 $99
Homesite $85
Illustrator $99
Visio $ 50

A career counseler told me that although a lot of
companies "preach" about writing ability, etc, they
"hire" on software skills, and another agency told me
a way to get started is to learn something new that
the other writers don't know and don't want to learn.
So I'm concentrating on web stuff and new
hot tools like Flash, Visio, and html help. 

---

I've been taking classes that I think are relevant.
One way I've gotten ideas is to search my favorite job
sites... dice.com, monster.com, etc, with various
keywords like "framemaker", to get an idea of the
numbers of jobs wanting the skills.  I've come to the
following list:
Framemaker
RoboHELP
Word
Visio
Powerpoint
Dreamweaver
Homesite
Frontpage
Flash
Photoshop
Illustrator  ... and they get more technical like

XML
Visual Basic
ASP
JavaScript
CGI

Check out these places for great prices on software..
(you have to enroll in a class to get the educational
discount):

www.micromasteronline.com 
www.campustech.com

I've been able to get quite a few of the above
programs at a very good discount, and plan to acquire
a few more (frame 6 .. about $370)

---

Try this place.

http://www.matrixres.com

MATRIX RESOURCES, INC.
4851 Lyndon B. Johnson Frwy., Suite 700
Dallas, TX 75244
Main (972) 778-1800

Additionally, push your flexibility, and ability to
learn, which is what all tech writers do.

---

Like some others, I'd suggest getting a demo of
Robo-Help or ForeHelp or one of the other HATTs and
play with them as well. Create a Help file of your
resume in
the various formats and use them of samples.

I'll also echo the message about the local STC
chapter. They can be a great network for finding a job
and getting around the HR bottleneck.

---

If you're having trouble getting your foot in the
door, part of it may be the old "you can't teach an
old dog new tricks" bias, with the HR director working
on the rationale that you're simply too old to learn
these tools on the job. That would suck, but it's a
real possibility. ... But you can often use that
experience to support yourself up as a consultant:
"With age comes wisdom!" Play the trump card, get a
few choice gigs, and if they go real well, ask the
client if they'd consider taking you on full-time.
Beats the hell out of interviewing!

FrameMaker and Robo-Help both are available free of
charge in demo versions (on CD) from their respective
companies. I'd recommend picking up the demos and
playing with them until you knows the basics. Then
show up at the interview and blow your own
horn--loud--without making any extravagant claims:
"I've used both
tools to create simple systems, but I'm not an expert.
Don't forget, they're just tools, and you're hiring me
for my writing skills. I've learned XY tools over the
course of my career, and though I'm already
_productive_ with both tools, I'll get better with
them real fast once I'm using them full-time."

---

Richland College offers modestly prices classes in
FrameMaker and RoboHelp as part of the certification
program for technical writers. Contact Delores
Elder-Jones at the school.  These classes, usually
taught by folks in the technical writing trenches,
also are great places to network.

---

I work for an organization that oversees health care
providers and insurance companies.  Our principal
client is the federal government.  I spend most of my
time writing 150 page proposals for different govt
contracts.  You could do this or something like it
too.  You'd also make a good reviewer for such an
agency.  

Your accounting and govt skills would also take him
into competitive intelligence.  CI depts exist in most
corporations, but for sure in defense contractors. 
You could use all your skills in this position, and
the writing would be a lot more interesting.  There is
a web site http://www.scip.org  that has great job
leads.  The organization is the Society for
Competitive Intelligence.

Look for companies who contract to federal agencies,
and then investigate their writing groups.  There are
lots of govt sites that list their subcontractors or
their related industries. You might start in that
direction.  Get those names, companies, and then
target the HR directors for a marketing pitch.  Put
some samples together for a portfolio, edit a writing
sample and use that, make a list of the types of govt
proposals, etc you've done, and decide which of the
uncovered industries you might want to play in.

---

Richland has a TW certification program which can
teach you all those tools. Many of the tool vendors
also have evaluation copies you can download from
their websites.

Are you an STC member? If not, I recommend you join.
It will be the best investment you can make in your
career. The monthly meeting is this Thursday....check
out the website:  http://stc.org/region5/lsc/ for
information. There are several SIGs (Special Interest
Groups), one of which is the Newcomers.

---

Have you updated your resume and shopped it around
yet? I'd suggest you start with our local STC job bank
and contact a few recruiters. The recruiters should at
least be able to offer some hints for deficient
skills. The local STC chapter
(http://stc.org/region5/lsc/ ) has almost 700 members
and we've got some good resources.

The job market in Dallas is really good right now, but
it does seem that companies are wanting more technical
skills than ever before. You might consider taking
some computer courses for updating your technical
skills, too.

---

IF you can afford it, buy Frame and Robo and then
learn them. If you can't afford that, and they are
expensive packages, see if you can borrow copies
from someone just to learn them. You could take one of
your training manuals as a model and make a Frame
version of it, and then create a help system
from that, or an MS Word version of it, in Robo. Then
you'd have something to show prospects when they ask.
The basics of Robo are really pretty easy to
learn if you already knows MS Word. Frame is harder
because the UI is unique to Adobe products, as opposed
to MS applications. But, a week's worth of
concentrated effort should get you well along the
learning curves with both tools. Most doc departments
that use Frame, and Robo, have their own templates and
style guides, and they would not expect you to know
those in advance.

---

IDG has published "For Dummies" for both of these
tools, and both include demonstrater versions.  I know
the demonstrator for Frame won't let you save or
print.  The demonstrator for Robo is only for
RoboHTML.

---

Check out www.adobe.com and locate a certified
Framemaker trainer in your area. I am new to tech
writing, too, and it only took two days of 
accredited training to get me up to speed. As for
Robohelp, it is very common in the industry, but we
utilize a less expensive, more intuitive tool called
Webworks Publisher. This product works with Framemaker
like Robohelp works with Microsoft Word. Download it
at www.webworks.com and give it a try.

One way or the other, the Framemaker training is the
most important start. It only takes a few days and
Adobe has a good, useful curriculum set up for the
Intro/Intermediate student.

---

You will probably have an easier time breaking in as a
temp or "contract Pro" than as a regular staff
employee, and you might even find reception easier if
you feature your proposal experience. Get on the
Internet and start posting your resume to that effect
on a few of the many places you can do so
electronically.


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