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Subject:RE: Current Situation From:DGoldstein -at- DeusTech -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 15 Nov 2002 23:19:45 -0700
Another unsolicited thought:
I'm lucky enough to live in an area where there are lots of IT companies
(outside of Washington, DC). Of course, that also means that there are
lots of unemployed and underemployed tech writers for every job that opens
up -- and many of them have better resumes than I do (Framemaker,
clearance, etc.).
I got my current job (2002) and my previous job (2001) by *not* waiting
for companies to advertise a position. I sent out my not-so-competitive
resume to hundreds of companies, and I got interviews with a number of
them that had just started thinking about _maybe_ hiring a tech writer.
When a company failed to reply with a rejection, I would send my resume
again, using a different means of contact. Many companies got resumes from
me via e-mail, and then fax, and then snail mail. Some heard from me four
or five times!
Dan
P.S.: Almost everyone who called to invite me for an interview (including
the two companies that ended up hiring me) were responding to my second or
third contact -- not my first.
<snip>
> Contact everyone you know. Find a few good Internet job sites (monster,
> hotjobs, dice, or whatever works for you) and check the sites at least once
> a day. I have been known to apply for a job within minutes after it is
> posted on monster, and get an interview.
>
> Watch the local newspaper. In my area (Seattle/Bellevue), it is not unusual
> to see a tech writing job in the Sunday paper. I know two other tech
> writers who got their jobs this way.
>
> Diane Evans
> Technical Writer
>
</snip>
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