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Subject:Where did you get your feet wet From:Carrie Baker <carriebak -at- gmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 6 Jun 2005 09:31:52 +0200
I took a five month course in technical writing.
I also have a degree in English litertature and a teaching certificate.
I sent my CV to every possible position and even had some interviews.
However, I was looking for a part time position.
In the end, I was called in by someone who said the only reason they
called me in, was that I had gone to the same school as their
daughter!
They took me on as a beginner, and I learnt from the 2 other people
with whom I worked.
The degree in Literature, gave me the writing background.
Several of these threads have gotten me wondering how most of us got
involved in tech writing to begin with. How many of you have your
bachelors or masters in the field? How many of you grew into it from
previous jobs? How many of you just thought it sounded interesting and
jumped on in?
How necessary is a formal education in the field? Someone recently made a
crack about people who wrote a few how-to sheets and fancy themselves tech
writers. (That's ok, I forgive you.) But is it totally unreasonable to
expect on-the-job experience to get a foot in the door?
When I first started monstering tech writing jobs, I was surprised at what
was expected of the writers. There was a lot more to it than the user
guides and SOP's that I'd done in the past. But I'm still game to try.
I'd really like to hear how some of y'all got started in the field.
Thanks!
Lori
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Carrie Baker
carriebak -at- gmail -dot- com
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