Re: Internships

["Julie Frey" <julie -dot- frey -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I've been a quiet subscriber to the list for over a year...
But here's my two cents on interning and education in tech writing:
There have been several interesting threads about schooling, internships,
and experience. The more experienced members of the list have good reasons
to question the value of degrees in Tech writing. I went to an engineering
school for a degree in tech writing. I learned about organizing documents,
how to use Illustrator and InDesign, tricks with MS Word, and enough
marketing and graphic design to be making ads and brochures for my employer.
My teachers stressed that writing should be clear, complete, and concise,
and I really do keep that in mind as I write.

Sure, you figure all of these things out on your own and nothing can
substitute for experience, but you can also get a good start in the field by
getting some kind of a degree. It only gives me the advantage over the
person with little experience and no degree.

In addition to getting a background in the very basics, I found an
internship through the school. It started as a position writing a training
manual one machine, but has turned into project involving software training
for the entire company. Even if the internship had not turned into a job,
it has been a great experience. The one downside is that I am still paid as
an intern.... So I am working fast to finish my projects and move on to
greener pastures.



On 10/5/06, Emily Sirois <emilysirois -at- comcast -dot- net> wrote: