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Making a six-figure salary isn't impossible outside of Silicon Valley or NYC, but there are challenges. I see posts from folks who lament their current situation, but don't always seem willing to change.
1) You'll gross more as an independent contractor, but your expenses are higher - taxes, insurance, marketing to name three biggies you don't worry as much about when you're captive. Right now that insurance thing is killing me, so I can't go full-time independent, instead I work through an agency that gives me access to benefits without actually subsidizing them.
2) You need to add significantly more value than just writing manuals. I never sat around and asked anybody to respect me or the profession by my mere existence. I went above and beyond, asked how I could help the entire process, not just my tasks, and became a GUI designer, process analyst, information architect, web designer and knowledge manager along the way. I'm a SME in information design, and most people I work for hire me for expertise beyond creating paper door stops. You can do even better if you have vertical industry expertise as well as communications/ID expertise.
3) Respect yourself. Don't act like a door mat OR a prima donna. That means balancing the willingness to work overtime when it's really necessary with the ability to stand up and refuse to sacrifice your entire life to a job. If you're contracting, don't be willing to take gigs below your price range or your skill set. Wait tables or tend bar to make up the difference, but in your chosen profession, do not be willing to settle. (and this is the hardest one for most of us!)
4) Respect your colleagues and your management. You can point out alternatives, recommend improvements or caution against risky decisions, but don't sulk if it doesn't go your way. Listen to their ideas, suggestions and so forth, and do it with openness and enthusiasm... they may surprise you with a point you never considered.
5) Study the culture, the products and the processes surrounding your role. When you do, you can make better decisions about the battles you should fight, what your role adds to the organization as a whole, and how you can become visible by actually contributing to areas beyond the initial job description. I get a kick out of looking a job description when I came into a new position, and looking at the description six months or a year later. It's usually quite a transformation.
These were hard lessons for me to learn. Glad I did though.... been doing that six-figure thing for about three years now, and I don't live in New York or California.
Connie P. Giordano
The Right Words
Communications & Information Design
(704) 957-8450 (cell)
www.therightwords.com
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney
> -------Original Message-------
> From: Barry Campbell <barry -dot- campbell -at- gmail -dot- com>
> Subject: Re: Forbes: 10 surprising 6-figure jobs
> Sent: 07 May '07 14:38
>
> On 5/7/07, Karen <ekarenski-techwrl -at- yahoo -dot- com>, bemused by the thought
> of technical writers earning in excess of 100K a year, wrote:
>
> > My question: what planet are they on? or what planet should I be moving too?
>
> Try moving to Planet Manhattan. :-) You're likely to double your
> salary (at least), but the downside is that you'll triple your cost of
> living. That's what happened to me when I moved here.
>
> An experienced tech writer making north of 100K a year here is nothing
> unusual, and even well north of that if you have experience in certain
> key areas or industries or both.
>
> This cost of living calculator
> (http://www.cityrating.com/costofliving.asp) says that $100,000 in New
> York City is the equivalent of about $57,000 a year in Raleigh, NC
> (for example.) I've been living and working in NYC for the last ten
> years, but grew up in Raleigh and work one week a month out of the
> Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, and I think that's about right.
>
> - bc
>
> --
> Barry Campbell -- <barry -dot- campbell -at- gmail -dot- com>
> Blog: http://campbell-online.com
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