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Also, I forgot to mention that depending on what area you are looking at
getting into, a lot of charities and/or hospitals need writers and cannot
afford them. I had a friend break into it by doing some writing for a
hospitals community programs as a volunteer. It gave her experience and them
free writing.
Technical writing has a lot of variety to it, as I said my first gig was at
a Web Hosting agency, I have also worked for an Education company and now
work for a NATO contractor. That is part of what makes it such a fun field!
From: "Melissa Nelson" <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: joep95 -at- comcast -dot- net, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Getting into technical writng
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 15:09:19 -0400
>
> Depending on how badly you need a steady job at the moment, I
>broke into my
> technical writing job by going through a temp agency that placed
>office
> help. I asked to be placed in companies that had technical
>writers or would
> have a need for a technical writer. I was a receptionist at a Web
>Hosting
> company and about a month into it, their technical writer quit
>and while
> they were looking for more experienced writers, I offered to help
>out by
> doing a little technical writing while working in the reception
>area until a
> new writer came along.
>
> It worked out great for both of us, they got a $12 an hour tech
>writer for a
> couple of months and I got experience. In the end I was also
>hired as a
> technical writer when they decided they didnt want to lose me.
>The only
> moral of this story is that your first technical writer gig may
>come in a
> very off the wall manner.
>
> Good luck, you will love it...it is a great career!
>
> Melissa
>
>______________________________________________________________
>
> From: Joe Pisko <joep95 -at- comcast -dot- net>
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Getting into technical writng
> Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:58:07 -0700
> >Hello,
> >
> >I assume that this question has hit this email list some
>number of
> >times, I apologize for the repetition. I have a degree in
>English
> >and I am something of a computer geek. I am looking to get
>into
> >technical writing. I am working on getting a certificate in
> >technical writing (it will look good to the morons that seem
>to
> >staff HR departments.) I am also looking to develop
>professionally
> >by reading books on XML (I am already HTML literate) and
>computer
> >programming etc While all of that is swell and all, breaking
>into
> >the field is reportedly difficult. Any advice for a newbie? I
>have
> >read quite a bit about the field and it sounds perfect for me.
>Aside
> >from having good communication skills and liking technical
>subject
> >matter, I like to continually learn new things. All of this
>seems
> >fine but that first job has not as of yet surfaced. Thanks for
>any
> >advice.
> >Joe
> >
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