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Michelle Vina-Baltsas wrote on 04/23/2007 02:16:26 PM:
> I'm finding this thread very interesting.
>
> So, if someone chooses not to go into management, and remain a TW
> full-time, how do they advance? If they were fortunate enough to be at a
> company where there were two tracks for management vs. advanced XYZ then
> there is no issue. But if you're not, how would you feel professionally
if
> others in your department, with potentially less experience, advanced to
> management and you remained in the same position? Would you rethink your
> goals if that happened?
>
> If management is not for you, what then?
I don't have a problem working under people with less writing experience
than I have, so long as (a) they're good managers and (b) they're willing
to listen to alternatives when suggested by those with more experience.
There's a lot of satisfaction to be found in being the "go-to" person when
something critical and difficult comes in, or in being the subject matter
expert in a company's products and procedures, or the "fix-it" person when
something goes completely haywire with the applications being used or the
products they produce. I've usually been all of these in almost any
position I've held, in addition to being the in-depth peer reviewer,
proofreader, copy editor, template designer and maintainer, grammar guru,
one-on-one tutor in applications, and (often) the person who creates the
initial document sets, meaning I get to play with the toys first. It may
not always be a monetary satisfaction, but I get paid quite well and I'm
not in need of more money. Not to say I wouldn't like it, or wouldn't
accept it if it came my way, but I don't need it.
Frankly, you couldn't pay me enough to manage other people; the idea gives
me the cold grue. Let me write. Let me be your second, handling the
nit-pickiness of it all. I'll be perfectly happy, and you'll have a load
off your shoulders.
Lin Sims
The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion
of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was
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