Re: Career longevity

[Ed Hoornaert <Ed -dot- Hoornaert -at- VENTANA -dot- COM>]

Shelly La Rock writes that she's heard:

>... it's rare for a tech writer to stay at a job for more than 2 or 3
years.
>His reasons for the short stays were that companies usually
>let TW's go after a short time, not because the TW quits or
>takes a different job.

I've heard that the _average_ length of employment is somewhere in the
range that you mention -- but not that this is due to us getting fired!
If there's a grain of truth in this, it might be that there are a lot of
contract TW positions out there.  Anyone know of any studies?

>this guy made it sound like this is the norm, and that there's no TW's
>out there who can keep a job for more than a couple of years.

In my own case, I started at Ventana in a temporary position five years
ago next month.  I'm now "permanent", and manager of the department.  The
former documentation manager got booted upstairs; she's now a VP in
charge of customer training and services (who says there's no upward
mobility in TW?).  Weird and wonderful things can happen in startup
companies.

>Just curious, and hoping for a longer lasting job.

Yes, longer-lasting jobs are possible.  But be aware that for a high tech
company, a "long time" might be defined as 3 or 4 months.  Job security
in the old sense isn't really one of the perks of Information Age
careers.  It seems wise to maintain a network with one's peers, through
STC or other appropriate means, just in case.

Ed -dot- Hoornaert -at- Ventana -dot- com
Disclaimer: Ventana Corporation should not be held responsible for my big
mouth.