Low Pay vs. No Pay

["Heidi Von Markham" <hvonmark -at- onesecure -dot- com>]

I also object to highly qualified tech writers settling for low-paying jobs.

However, not working is simply not an alternative for many of us (right?).
Am I to become homeless while holding out for a higher-paying job? Should I
take a fast food job (or similar minimum wage position) instead of a
lower-paying tech job to force the market to pay us what we deserve? One
person left this left to pursue a different career. That's wonderful; I
sincerely think it's great that she had the skills to make a transition even
in this economy. Believe me, if I could snap my fingers and be an Oracle DBA
or Senior Java programmer instantly, I'd do it. Sadly, my magic wand has
some bugs, and retraining costs are not within my budget at this time.

I'm really trying to understand this thread, particular the sentiment that
tech writers should not work at low-paying jobs until the economy recovers.
In my area, the lowest bidder is often the ONLY bidder. Am I missing
something? How are people paying bills?

Does it suck that I have to work for my just-out-of-college rate? Yep. Am I
still  looking for a better job? Yep. I may not sleep well at nights, but at
least I have a bed and a roof over my head. I guess my message is that I
truly wish I could be amongst those of you with sufficient savings to
weather this storm. I really, really do. That's what makes this discussion
so difficult.

May the market forces decide we all should get great jobs!!!

Heidi von Markham, Network Security Research
OneSecure Inc., Silicon Valley CA

Diane Evans wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I have nothing against someone who is a junior level writer taking a
lower-paying job.  We all did that at some time in our careers.  What I do
object to is a highly qualified tech writer settling for a low-paying job.
Our skills are too valuable to give to the lowest bidder.



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