TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I'll chime in, just for the record. Don't know if I even qualify fot filling out this survey,
being a newcomer and working in Germany.
> 1. How long have you been a technical communicator?
About 1 year, just finished my studies in Technical Writing.
Plus working as a student in related fields (layout, PR, translation) for about 3 years.
> 2. Have you noticed changes in software programs that you use? Explain
> briefly.
It's still MS Office for a lot of things. But for any layout-heavy work I started working with
Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat 6) this year, a real time and live
saver.
For the record: Frame is out for me, we could only afford one software package and considering the
state of affairs for Frame and the heap of layout-centric stuff I'm doing, I voted for Creative
Suite instead of Frame.
> 3. Have you noticed a change in salary? Explain briefly.
Yes. I'm really earning money now. (About 30k Euros per year at a tax rate of over 40%. And 30
days vacation per year.)
> 4. Do the tasks that you complete now vary from what you did when you began
> working in this field? Explain briefly.
Even over the period of a year: Yes. I began doing updates for existing documentation and am now
mostly doing new stuff. And I'm look into XML and Single-Source for changing the whole
documentation process over the next year.
> 5. How many times have you changed jobs or relocated?
Never as a TechWriter. About a half a dozen times as a student.
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