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>Employers like this one, I think, are likely the best
>predictive factor for success in technical writing.
>Knowing what I know now, had I gotten the other jobs
>I applied for on the same day, I'd never have really gotten
>into or enjoyed the profession.
>
Remarkable story, Eric. But how many employers are willing to go out of
business in order to encourage technical writers?
But all seriousness aside, anyone who has broken into the profession without
the "obvious" background to do the job will remember the employer who was
willing to take a chance. Finding that employer is not easy. Unless the
company is a start-up, you usually have to do an end-run around the HR
department and get to the hiring manager by other means. After a year of
banging on doors in Silicon Valley, I got my first job as a technical editor
when I gave my resume to someone who had appeared on a panel at Stanford
University on how holders of advanced degrees in the humanities can get a
job in high tech. He passed it on to his boss and within four weeks I was
working. I stayed there for twelve years - the last five as the manager of
the department.
--Wayne
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Wayne Douglass phone: 408-542-2139
Verity, Inc. FAX: 408-542-2040
894 Ross Road mailto:wayned -at- verity -dot- com
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 http://www.verity.com
"Connecting People With Information"
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