Re: Will I be employable?

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

"Generic" IT, that is, IT for business without an industry-specific focus,
is at a fairly high risk for offshoring.  IT with a specific industry focus
(healthcare/hospitals, telecommunications, aerospace, etc.), will tend
to mirror the risk level of the industry itself, as will technical writing that
is not IT-baded.  After a brief flirtation with the idea of offshoring
technical writing for domestic product development during the first
half of this decade, the trend for outsourced writing has shifted more
toward offshoring writers along with offshored developers and using
domestic contractors, both individuals and service companies such
as Lionbridge.  Computer-related technical writing tends to be the
most visible in online forums, and this field probably represents
the largest single employer of technical writers, but there are multiple
others that have been plodding along relatively ignored and untouched
by both the booms and busts of the past 10-15 years.  Airplanes,
escalators, subway trains and all those machinery systems you see
on "How It's Made" churning out refrigerator parts, DVDs, etc., and
processing packaged food have installation, operation and service
manuals, too.

I would do at least some of the computer material (because
everything has a computer of some kind in it somewhere these
days), plus pick one or two different industries that have had
periods of good business in recent years and prepare myself
to be able to switch back and forth between them as business
trends wax and wane.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jennifer Williams" <jewilliams1 -at- sbcglobal -dot- net>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2008 4:28 AM
Subject: Will I be employable?


> I'm currently enrolled in an online technical writing degree completion 
> program at Northeastern University. I'm thinking of picking up certificates in 
> programming, database design and administration, and advanced web design along 
> the way. Does this sound like a good idea? I was advised to focus in a 
> technical area so I chose IT instead of say, health management. Now I'm having 
> doubts and second thoughts about the viability of my choice and whether I'm 
> learning what I should be. I'm just getting my feet wet in the industry again 
> so I'm not as familiar with it as I was ten or even five years ago.
>
> Am I on the right track to making myself employable when I graduate? Are 
> technical writing jobs being offshored along with other IT jobs? Are other IT 
> jobs still being offshored? Can anyone recommend a newsletter I should read to 
> keep up with what's happening in IT? Should I choose another area of focus 
> instead of IT? What is your background? What kind of technical writing do you 
> do?
>
> Thanks,
> Jennifer
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