Re: Slave wages or not?

Subject: Re: Slave wages or not?
From: Marilynne Smith <marilyns -at- QUALCOMM -dot- COM>
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 09:40:03 -0800

To Melissa's comments, I would add that Annonymous must consider some of
the following issues:

- Do I need a job so I can eat? If true, a job in your field is better
than waiting tables while waiting for the "big job."

- Will this job provide me with good experience? If true, milk that
experience for all you can get. Treat it as a learning experience and
learn all you can. Collect writing samples. Work late on the jobs that
meet your goals and do a fine job.

- Is this a dumb thing to do? If, in your opinion, this is true, look for
other work.

- When you've collected a good amount of experience, look for the next
job. Move on so another newbie can get started. If your employer has
enjoyed your work, the next person will have an easier time of it.

- When you leave, tell them you love them, but you need more money. This
paves the way for the next writer to get paid a more decent wage.

Always remember the value of a good reference. If they remember you as the
writer who worked his/her socks off, they'll give you a good
recommendation. Think of this job as a practice run in your life as a
writer (or maybe the warm up).

Marilynne
------------------------------------------


Anonymous wrote:
>
> "I have worked for my present company for about 10 months. I do not
> have a technical writing degree, but I do have a college degree
> (B.A.,liberal arts). I work at home and thus do not have direct
<snip>

Melissa Lowery wrote:
> You have heard from the "Absolutely!!!" camp in spades, so I'll add
> the perspective of someone who has literally been there and done that.
> I worked for less than $10 an hour at my first technical writing job,
> but the circumstances provided me with a few key non-monetary benefits
> that some of you may not have considered.
>
> I was paid less than $10 an hour to write computer documentation for a
> small programming group on a university campus. They hired me even
> though I had no experience and they promised me that I would be given
> the freedom and time to learn on the job. In addition to my wages, I
> was provided with a graduate student tuition waiver and graduate
> student health benefits (which were only marginally beneficial). I
> worked at this job for three years. What I got out of it was a sizable
> student loan debt burden (I still had to take out loans to make ends
> meet), three years of real world writing experience, a rudimentary
> portfolio with a variety of samples, and a Masters degree in American
> Literature.
>
> Perhaps I came away with more than Anonymous is getting, but--and this
> is the really important point--the three years of real writing
> experience was invaluable when it came to finding my next job. When I
> was negotiating a salary range for my next job, I could and did
> command a much larger hourly wage based on my skill level and
> experience.
>
<snip>

~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~
Marilynne Smith marilyns -at- qualcomm -dot- com
Sr. Technical Writer (619) 651-6664
QUALCOMM, San Diego, CA AE-203B
"We'll have the whole world talking"




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