Re: success with finding jobs

[Barb Philbrick <caslonsvcs -at- IBM -dot- NET>]

Carl:

I think the combination of psychology and philosophy is an excellent
background to have for a technical writer. As an employer, I would
take any degree program, and particularly psychology, as a plus over
nothing at all.

As far as asking "how did you get into tw": I ask this question of
everyone I interview, regardless of background (if the candidate
doesn't have a tw background, I ask why they want to get into it). It
can be a great indicator of motivation and interest in the career.
Plus, since it only became a "real" profession in the not so distant
past, many people have interesting stories about how they found out
about tw and when they decided it was for them.

Barb

>     I refrain from listing my education on my resume. Earlier this year I
>     had 3 solid job offers (St. Louis & Kansas City, USA). Of course, the
>     subject arises during the interview. But since my BA is in Psychology
>     & Philosophy the question that invariably follows is, "How did you get
>     into technical writing?" Difficult as those pesky interviews are, I've
>     always been led to believe I was called due to (1) 5+ years experience
>     (2) the excerpts from my portfolio I include with the resume.
>
>
>     carl


Barbara Philbrick, Caslon Services Inc.
Technical Writing

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html