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Subject:RE: I'm taking my marbles and going home... From:"Greg Thompson" <gthompson -at- movaris -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 12 Aug 2002 18:26:32 -0700
Andrew: Thanks for your insightful comments.
While it would be nice not to downsize my lifestyle, I am prepared to do
so because I don't want my next career choice to be entirely income
driven as my current one has been. While I am not looking for something
that would be completely unmarketable, I am looking for something that I
could do and love if I didn't have the Silicon Valley mortgage to worry
about:)
I am able to pay this mortgage because of the salary I make as a tech
writer in an area that is extremely expensive to live in. What happens
when the job goes? Well so does the place if I have to be unemployed for
an extended period of time. I am tired of the stress associated with
working and having this albatross over my head in a down economy with no
back up plans on my part. I have told my wife: I wont live like this.
Web Design isn't as valuable of a skill but Web UI design still is. It
is a rare person here in Silicon Valley who can design the UI for a Web
application and has the associated usability and human factor skills.
That's a good point, and you are correct to a certain degree. Its not
merely
about adding skills, but adding skills that are in demand. There are a
fair
number of senior-level people unemployed because the skills they possess
have
become outdated or less valuable. Web design, as an example, is a useful
skill to
have, but its value as a skill has sharply declined. Hence, you can't
expect to
make $75K a year as a web designer any more. That skill isn't in demand
and hence
isn't as valuable.
> So, assuming the above to be the case, what non tech fields have
people
> considered moving into if they could no longer work at technical
> writers? Also, has anyone considered how they would downsize their
life
> style if they did lose a high paying tech writer job?
You don't need to downsize your lifestyle if you can identify a
different or new
career you can prosper at. Its just that what you want to do, and what
the market
is paying big money for, might not be in synch. I'd love it if I could
get paid
$500,000 a year for sitting at home playing Counter-Stike all day, but
that just
isn't going to happen, regardless of how good of a Counter-Strike player
I am.
There is absolutely no market for a fat slob sitting at home playing
Counter-Strike (believe me, if there was, I'd be all over it.)
If you find a new career, one that you can really get into, and there is
some
real money in it, then you can prosper. The trick is finding that career
and
pursuing it. I did it and was able to re-invent myself almost entirely
in a new
career. As such, I have been able to biggie size my lifestyle.
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