Re: Anyone need a job? Very badly?

Subject: Re: Anyone need a job? Very badly?
From: "William Sherman" <bsherman77 -at- embarqmail -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:21:20 -0500

Ok, a lot depends on what you want to do, what you are willing to do, and how bad you want to do it. Then you use those writing skills to be creative in the piece of paper that sells you - your resume.

What I see is a decent potential to a resume. Fatten it up a bit with items from each job and you have a start. At this point, it is as important to show you know the tools as well as the process. Toss the education to the end, so that you are stressing the work experience.

==============

Experience:

Over 6 years experience in editing documentation for business, media, and engineering groups.

Over 6 years experience using editing software and computer software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Office 2003, Office 2007, Windows XP, Windows 7, and Photoeditor.



Work History:

Editor - <Have a name Engineering Group>, June 2011 - present. Editing engineering documentation for a radio telescope array. Used Microsoft Word, Windows 7, blah, blah

Editor - Crowdsourcing Company, May 2010 - present. Editing company documentation for ... Used Microsoft Word, Windows 7, blah, blah

Editor - Big Name University, Oct. 2008 - May 2010. Edited university accounting policies and procedures. Used Microsoft Office 2003, Word, Excel, Access, Windows XP, blah, blah, blah

Copy Editor - Our News, Sep. 2004 - May 2006. Copy edited weekly articles for publication. Responsible for local community articles, interacted with writers to improve overall quality. Used Microsoft Office 2003, Windows XP, Photoeditor, blah, blah, blah



Education:
Big Name University, BS Technical Communications

===========

After you get it put together, you can run it past here as there are lots of people who have had decades of experience with resumes and getting jobs with them, and then stick it on the usual job sites like Monster, CareerBuilder, and Dice.

Since I have no idea where Back End, North America is, you may be in a wonderful spot where there are several opportunities within 25 miles of home or you may discover all your offers come from 3 or 4 states away. Then you have to decide, how much do you want it?

Most offers will probably be contracts. DO NOT be lulled into the temp to hire scams. These invariably never get you hired, but they succeed in getting you cheaper with that carrot in front of you only to dump you at the end date instead of hiring you. Remember also, and this is VERY IMPORTANT, that you have to view yourself as furniture. to the company, you are like a chair or desk. As long as they can use you, they will. If they decide they can't, out the door you go.

No one promises a chair a retirement pension and a gold watch for great service.

If you hit a few contracts on the road, you'll become seasoned quickly. You'll learn the tricks and you will be able to command higher rates. Remember, the only thing that counts in contracting is the money. Sounds pretty mercenary, but it is. Insurance dies when you leave, 401k typically never amounts to much, you rarely get vacation and only if you survive more than a year, which is about the time you get booted.

And when you get booted, don't take it personal. They just don't need that chair right now. Say goodbye, and walk away. They don't care that you are $5000 in the hole, that you can't make rent, that you didn't earn enough to pay for the trip there. Contracting is about being a professional and the more professional you are, the better your contracts will be. Remember, you are the same as any other vendor, just smaller.

The contracting business is screwed up right now, and they value lower rates more than experience, so odds are you can get picked up quickly if you willing to go to a job. Remember, it is a contract and it is temporary. Do not take more than you can pack in your car and leave with when the job ends. You aren't moving there, you are only going to work a job, and then come home.

Along the way, you may find a great "permanent" job that you can be a direct hire and get benefits. Until then, make all the money you can and gather all the experience you can.

Good luck.



----- Original Message ----- From: "Jessica Behles" <j -dot- e -dot- behles -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 4:10 PM
Subject: Re: Anyone need a job? Very badly?


...
And to turn this e-mail into less of a whine-filled rant (cheese, anyone?),
I guess I'll ask for any advice about how to actually get a job in
techcomm. I've been shooting for editing jobs because that's what I love to
do. I copy edited the university's student paper for two years, I edited
the university's accounting policies and procedures for two years, I was a
writing tutor for a year, I've been a part-time contract editor for a
crowdsourcing company for almost two years, and since last June, I have
been editing engineering documentation for a radio telescope array. Yet I
still don't have enough experience for an "entry level" editing position
(in or out of techcomm). I'd be willing to write, but I have next to no
experience there, so my prospects are even worse. So how do I A) leverage
this experience to get a job; or B) get more experience even though nobody
will offer me a job?

Thanks in advance!

-Jessica Behles
Documentation Specialist
NRAO ALMA Project -- Back End, North America


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References:
Anyone need a job? Very badly?: From: William Sherman
Re: Anyone need a job? Very badly?: From: Jessica Behles

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