Re: Technical writing salaries

["Sharon Burton-Hardin" <sharonburton -at- earthlink -dot- net>]

I see the levels as follows:
Junior: Not much experience in tech writing. Never taken a project from air
to delivery on own. May not be super computer literate. I don't expect
him/her to know all the right questions to ask. I expect to hand hold in
planning activities and more, such as delivery issues.

Middle: Experience in technical writing. May have taken a few projects from
air to delivery. I expect him or her to know most of the questions to ask.
Should have general ability to manage time/activities and plan somewhat. I
expect moderate to high computer literacy. Knows something about dealing
with printers/online issues. At least enough to know when to kick the
problems to someone else.

Senior: Very experienced in tech writing. Has taken many projects from air
to delivery. Knows what questions to ask and how to manage when the answers
are not forthcoming. Expert computer literacy. Knows how to plan time and
activities with little intervention from me. Knows and can manage printer
and online issues before they come up.

Notice I said nothing about years writing. That means less to me than
experience. You can learn more in 2 years in a startup, one person writer
job than in many 10 year positions in large, multi writer environments. I
call them combat MBAs (like combat officers). I have one. My first job was 2
years in a crazed startup and boy, did I learn! Boy, did I make mistakes!
But I came out of that with priceless knowledge about so much. At that
point, I was a middle writer with more to learn but with way more knowledge
than the 10+ year writers I worked with on my next jobs, who had never
worked in a combat environment.

sharon

Sharon Burton-Hardin
Anthrobytes Consulting
909-369-8590
www.anthrobytes.com
President of the Inland Empire chapter of the STC
www.iestc.org