reaching high school students -Reply

[Christine Fedruk <CFED44 -at- CBOT -dot- COM>]

I have to agree with Melissa on this one -- early exposure is a great idea.
My decision to become a tech writer happened when I was 13... I was
reading some teenybopper magazine and came across a "Hot careers
for the 80's!" article -- and Technical Writer was one of the profiled jobs.
(Starting salary? $13-15k a year, up to $30k with a Masters. Oooh.)

I ripped that page out of the magazine... and I still have it. <grin> Talk
about a long-sought goal!

Anyway, I'll be giving a similar talk to a hundred college freshmen in
January (go Carthage!), and am waiting to see the answers to Melissa's
questions. I love to jump on any chance to evangelize for tech writing...
and I bet you do, too.

Thanks to all for a very interesting week's worth of messages.
-Christine
Chicago, IL

>>> Melissa Hunter-Kilmer <mhunterk -at- BNA -dot- COM> 10/30/97 08:16am >>>
...Now I'm thinking I'd like to address a group of students about tech
writing, and I'm going to volunteer to do that.  We desperately need
these bright technologically-oriented kids!  What do y'all suggest I
tell them?  Here are some ideas:

Why tech writing is fun and cool
What skills tech writers use
How to prepare for a career in tech writing
How much tech writers make, in this geographic area and others
Who hires tech writers
Why one would want to be a tech writer rather than a developer

Any other ideas?

Melissa Hunter-Kilmer
mhunterk -at- bna -dot- com
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