Re: Career|Skill Advice

[Lisa G Wright <lisawright -at- mail -dot- utexas -dot- edu>]

Roberta,
Usability is a great skill to build. I don't know if they still publish 
them, but Sun used to have great documentation about usability and 
internationalization for documentation and software. It was free and 
very educational.

Someone commented about internationalization, and I agree that's a great 
area to build knowledge. I read a fabulous book years ago, International 
Technical Documentation by Nancy Hoft, 
http://www.amazon.com/International-Technical-Communication-Information-Communications/dp/0471037435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320358320&sr=1-1. 
The knowledge is transferable to anything you are doing, IMHO.

Accessibility is a great topic to learn about. Usability, 
internationalization, and accessibility all go together, I think.

I like taking classes in technical areas as well. I once did a wireless 
networking certificate. You could take a web programming course or get a 
book. Become more knowledgeable about a business sector where you are 
interested in working.

I am currently taking a marketing class to get some more "front-office" 
business background. In a smaller shop, you could be called upon to do 
corporate or marketing-type communications, so that's a handy skill to have.

Good luck!
Lisa


On 11/3/2011 8:57 AM, Roberta Hennessey wrote: