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Subject:Re: Educational areas to pursue From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 21 Feb 2003 12:34:26 -0800 (PST)
I probably shouldn't jump into this menage a trois between John, Tammy, and Beth,
but what the heck; it's Friday. :-)
FWIW, I think John's advice to add technology is good for two reasons. 1) In most,
if not all, geographic areas, writers are almost literally a dime a dozen. If you
don't believe me, check out the archives, searching for those threads dealing with
the woeful state of the job market for TWs since the dot.com bust.
B) John was responding in a situation where he rightly pointed out that the manager
had suggested to the writer not only that she needed to get some additional training
but also, in management speak, told her where he would like to see her focus. That
was in databases, I believe. It is always good advice to listen seriously and heed
the boss's requests.
These days, and maybe it was always thus, TWs are divided into those who also
possess technical skills and those who do not. When it comes to who you want to hire
or keep, and you have a buyer's market, you probably go for the one with the most
and most varied skills. Knowing something about java, perl, cgi, C++, or whatever
does NOT make you a programmer who can write, but it may make you more valuable to
an organization than somewho who can 'just' write.
So, John, not that you need MY validation, I like your advice.
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