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Subject:Mid-level TW Blues Resolution From:Matt Danda <mdanda2 -at- YAHOO -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 2 Oct 1998 06:45:58 -0700
Hey all:
A few weeks back I started a thread on feeling a professional plateau
in technical writing after 4.5 years of experience. Well, I have
chosen a path to resolve this problem, and I feel that I should share
it with the list.
I quit my high-paying consulting gig in Orlando and found a job at a
back-to-basics, rapidly-growing, and very entrepreneurial software
development company. I got my start (all those years ago) in such a
small and fast-paced organization, and thus I am returning to the same
type of work environment that convinced me that technical writing was
my calling.
The catch? An initial cut in pay. Yes, I am the same person who
started a thread earlier this summer about wanting to make $100,000 a
year as a tech writer. So what happened? Why the change?
Well, the consulting job began to cost me more in personal sacrifice
than I made in money. The commute was over 125 miles, forcing me to
live separately from my wife and social life. And the work itself was
not especially rewarding, since I prefer working in nimble software
development companies rather than monolithic corporate powerhouses.
The powerhouses, however, tend to pay better rates.
While consulting is a great way to increase the income and pop into
and out of various projects and companies, it comes at the cost of
geographic instability. I can easily remained employed as a consultant
at well over $50K a year, but not necessarily in the same small town
where I want to live.
And thats the clincher. I have to take a major cut in pay in order to
live and work and play in the same city. In order to build an
acceptable personal life.
My new job is a ground-floor opportunity full of risk and uncertainty,
but with buckets of potential and rapid growth. We could be huge (like
the Bud lizards), or...not. I like that risk.
Consulting pays very well, but doesn't have the energy or excitement
of working with an entrepreneurial software developer. So, for the
next year or so, I'll be counting my pennies but having a heck of a
good time. Maybe someday I'll have the best of both worlds--now that
would be an achievement!
