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Subject:Re: FWD: handling non-tech writing jobs on resume From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:10:01 -0700 (PDT)
--- Anonymous <anonfwd -at- raycomm -dot- com> wrote:
>
> I need some advice from you all. I'm considering
> taking a job outside the Tech Writing field and I need
> your advice on how to handle it on my resume. If I go
> from Sr. Technical Writer to... say... an office job,
> bank teller, or retail for a while, how do I handle
> it? If you've done this in the past, what did you put
> on your resume. Hiring managers: What would you like
> to see? I don't want to foul up my opportunities in
> the future but I need to get benefits and support my
> family.
Since I don't use a chronological resume, this isn't generally a problem for
me. My tech writing resume's focus on what I've done as a tech writer, not what
I did as a developer or a sales person or other jobs I've held.
As a hiring manager, I'm only interested in relevant experience. So if you tell
me about an office job, which is pretty nebulous in itself, you need to tell me
about what it means for the job I'm filling now. I think all sorts of job and
life experiences can factor into qualifications for a job, but you need to do
the work to package them so I see that they make you a better qualified
candidate than others.
But if your current situation can't be a help to you in getting the kind of
work you really want, I don't think it benefits you to list it on your resume.
(But then I take a non-standard approach to these things anyway.)
=====
Tom Murrell mailto:tmurrell -at- columbus -dot- rr -dot- com
Personal Web Page - http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/index.html Last Updated 06/01/02
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