[Fwd: Re: tech communication career]

[Melissa Nelson]

"One other thing you might want to look into which is very closely
>related (and often in fact a cross-over role that tech writers also do or 
>transfer into) is instructional design. Your teaching experience could 
>*really* work for you there. It encompasses developing learning/training 
>materials for many scenarios: in-person training with an instructor, 
>self-training, and also distance learning (on-line courses), and more. If 
>you want to explore this route, I'd definitely look into some coursework, 
>even if not a degree or certificate per se."


Lisa make a great point here. Our trainers tend to be military or 
ex-military men, but I was fortunate enough to get to help them design and 
write their last training course; it was so much fun. They both thought I 
was a tad crazy because I just had a ball doing that!

Melissa

>From: Lisa Roth <roth.lisa at jimmy.harvard.edu>
>To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com>
>Subject: [Fwd: Re: tech communication career]
>Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2006 09:47:40 -0400
>
>I sent this privately to Roy, but here it is to share with other curious 
>minds, especially since a number of other people are posting to the list.
>
>Hi there,
>
>There are a lot of options, some of which require far more technical
>knowledge, and many that require far less. By the way, your teaching
>experience can give you a big plus in certain roles. There are so many
>different types of specialties within the field, that most people who
>are decent communicators can find a slot where they're challenged and 
>happy.
>
>I work at a non-profit health care research group and write/edit a wide
>variety of items. A typical day for me is working on instructional
>documents, reports, general communications, and
>other docs that are required for health research.
>
>In my case, the job does not take away from home/family time at all. (My
>place is a very family-oriented place, and overtime is not expected, 
>generally speaking.)
>In high-tech, competitive businesses, overtime is often the norm, though.  
>It all depends; since my company doesn't sell anything, we're not under the 
>same pressure to finish a product and get it on the market. (We *do* have 
>our deadlines, of course, but they're not at all on the same scope as some 
>of the product-based companies.)
>
>As for compensation, on the other hand, some of these corporate employees 
>make more money than those of us in the non-profit world, but I'll take the 
>trade-off with a smile any day of the week!
>
>One other thing you might want to look into which is very closely
>related (and often in fact a cross-over role that tech writers also do or 
>transfer into) is instructional design. Your teaching experience could 
>*really* work for you there. It encompasses developing learning/training 
>materials for many scenarios: in-person training with an instructor, 
>self-training, and also distance learning (on-line courses), and more. If 
>you want to explore this route, I'd definitely look into some coursework, 
>even if not a degree or certificate per se.
>
>Good luck. If I can answer anything else, please let me know. I might be
>able to give the "flip-side" opinion to a lot of the corporate-based
>people you may also hear from, seeing as I am from a non-profit and also
>not in a high-tech biz.
>
>--Lisa
>
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
>format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content 
>delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
>
>Doc-To-Help includes a one-click RoboHelp project converter. It's that 
>easy.  Watch the demo at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
>
>---
>You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as melmis36 at hotmail.com.
>
>To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
>techwr-l-unsubscribe at lists.techwr-l.com
>or visit 
>http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/melmis36%40hotmail.com
>
>
>To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join at lists.techwr-l.com
>
>Send administrative questions to lisa at techwr-l.com. Visit
>http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
>