gearing up to be a tech writer

[Jonathan Kajeckas <jgkaje -at- wm -dot- edu>]

I am preparing to move to Northern California (Sonoma County) in the next 
three months, where I hope to start working as a technical writer, ideally 
as a contractor with the flexibility to work from home. I hope subscribers 
to the list might comment on my plans and offer advice on specific questions.

I worked for two years as the sole copy editor in an office that prepared 
legislative briefing materials, editing and laying out over 4,000 pages of 
material (in WP5.1). Following a master's degree in Government I edited a 
journal in business history and redesigned the layout (in Word), while 
maintaining Novell and Unix servers. In my current job I support 75 faculty 
in the social sciences on their general use of computers and in integrating 
information technology into their courses. I design solutions for faculty 
and for IT staff which I then document, in some cases managing projects for 
new services. My interests include computer networking, usability, and 
typography. (One of my current pet projects is a Word macro that directs 
Postscript output to Ghostscript to create a PDF for free.)

One question is how to use my time and money before I move to better 
position myself as a technical writer. I gather that in my current role I 
should concentrate on building a portfolio of technical writing to show to 
prospective employers. I plan to more fully document the solutions I have 
designed and to document some internal processes for IT. I am interested in 
any guidance on which of the following would best advance my career as a 
technical writer in a new place where I am generally unknown:
-taking the MOUS Word Expert exam ($65, this one should be easy now, if it 
is in fact worth taking);
-taking the Windows 2000 Professional MCSE exam ($100, this might take two 
weeks of study);
-buying Framemaker 6 ($350) while I still qualify for an academic discount 
in order to learn it at home and potentially use it as a contractor (or 
should I just get the book Framemaker 5.5.6 for Dummies with the tryout 
version and skip the major investment for now, perhaps taking a class 
and/or buying it after I move?);
-buying Visio Pro ($105) or Standard ($49);
-learning more about Linux, TeX, VB/VBA/VBScript, XML (mostly time and 
books); or
-reading like a fiend about telecom technology (big in Sonoma County).
Assuming that none of these are bad ideas, which one or two are the best? 
Have I missed a big one?

Second question: I have read in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical 
Writing that it is hard to get work as a free-lance contractor without 
first working full-time as a technical writer for a few years. True? If so, 
should I go directly to a tech writers placement service if I hope to 
eventually work as a contractor from home, or should I concentrate on 
full-time jobs in order to gain experience? I think I prefer one of these 
two options to posting my resume on dice.com and seeing who bites.

Any thoughts are much appreciated.
Jonathan Kajeckas
IT Senior Departmental Liaison
College of William & Mary
757.221.1959


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