Re: Where did you get your feet wet? (longish - work for free)

["devdra darke" <devdra -at- sympatico -dot- ca>]

In university I took whatever courses interested me. I was not concerned 
with what kind of work I would be qualified for, because there really were 
very few 'university' type jobs available where I grew up (hey, are you 
going to work at the Mall or the Mill?).

This lead to a major in English with a double minor in Psychology and 
Theatre. Lots of creative writing courses as well.

Then, my brother got a co-op position with IBM across the country. He 
co-oped as a technical writer out of the creative writing department at our 
university. Afterwards, he described the work and it was right up my alley 
(technical and writing).

So, when I came out to visit him for the summer after I graduated, I took a 
few local college courses in technical writing. One of the professors 
offered hands-on, unpaid experience through his own consulting company.

I worked as a writer for free from September to December. After the course, 
he hired me to take over his deliverables during his Christmas vacation. 
Then he hired me when he returned. Then he recommended me for my first full 
time job as a Technical Writing Assistant.

15 years later and I still love technical writing and have been continuously 
employed as such on and up through the ranks.

It's been a great career and one that I don't plan to leave for a long, long 
time.

I always wondered though, why so many people were _interested_ in working as 
a technical writer in my college group, but I was the only one who thought 
it was worth the investment of time and effort. Literally, no one else in 
the class took the instructor up on their offer.

Moral: It is better to "Just Do It" (as Nike would say) than to be one of 
the many who say "It is easy for you, you have experience".

Sigh.



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