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Marc Santacroce advised that newbies should probably seek a regular staff
writer position instead of a contract.
When I was trying to break into the field, various agencies told me the
same thing. I think their rationale was that (1) companies were loath to
hire a contractor with little or no TW experience, and (2) the newbie tech
writer could learn the ropes in a staff writer job. My answer at the time
was: I may not have actual tech writing experience, but I'm a computer geek
with several years of experience writing and teaching writing, and I
believe I can pull my own weight. Eventually I found a contract, and I've
been a contract TW ever since. This suits me. Had I landed in a junior
staff writer position early on, I think I would have been frustrated. I
think the pace would have been different, the responsibility lighter.
Having spent a couple of years teaching, I didn't want to be somebody's
protegee, handling bite-sized chunks of work under close supervision.
The newbie that Marc was advising--Betsy Boyd--has an MA in English,
teaching experience, and several months of experience developing web
content. I think she'd do fine as a contractor. Of course, I wouldn't
recommend contracting for a true newbie who requires a lot of hand-holding.
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