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Hi Layna! I too was in your shoes a while back. It is difficult to learn
some of the TW industry standards (i.e., FrameMaker, RoboHelp, Illustrator).
However, there is hope!
Having Technical Writing experience and samples (even if they were completed
using Word) has a lot of weight in interviews. Smart managers see the potential
in a person not the specific skills.
Recently, my department needed 2 additional writers. The person(s) that we
liked the most had (1)Writing samples that they actually wrote (a story in
itself), (2)Was pleasant in the interview (another story) and (3)Asked questions
(i.e., why do I want to work here questions).
Anyway, I also found that a lot of people want to hire someone years of
RoboHelp, FrameMaker, et.al., but the demand for writers is high. So a lot of
companies are willing to train. Oh, that's another issue - prove that you know
how to learn quickly.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Chris
* Chris Fitzgerald
* Technical Writer -Software Documentation
* Digital Instruments Veeco Metrology Group
* (805)967-1400 ext. 2323
* fitzgerald -at- di -dot- com
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