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Subject:RE: Internships-I had a few of those From:"Melissa Nelson" <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Wed, 09 Aug 2006 14:59:16 -0400
I didn't do any official internships. I went back to school at a slightly
advanced age and did not feel comfortable doing an internship. However, I
worked as a Research and Editorial Assistant in Grad School and gained a lot
of experience. Also, my first four months of tech writing were done on a
Receptionist salary, which pretty much felt like an internship. :)
By the way, Donna are you also an alumni of Michigan Tech? I think that Tom
has mentioned you, but when I saw the Chicago and Michigan writers and the
Scientific and Technical Communication degree, I knew you had to be one of
us. :) I recieved my BA in STC from MTU in 2002. Wow, three acronyms in one
sentence...sorry I work for a DoD contractor!
From: kathleen wehle <peridot100 -at- earthlink -dot- net>
Reply-To: kathleen wehle <peridot100 -at- earthlink -dot- net>
To: Paul Hanson <PHanson -at- Quintrex -dot- com>, "'Jones,Donna'"
<DJones -at- zebra -dot- com>, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Internships-I had a few of those
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 14:53:26 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
>During my college summers, I was an intern for a radio station, a real
estate magazine publisher and a beach community paper. I have a BA in
Journalism, emphasis in Ad/PR. I also have a two year degree in Graphic
Design. I worked in a variety of print media environments following
college, but few had benefits and they paid $9-$13 an hour. Needless to
say, they were production jobs, not the creative ventures I had sought
when I studied in college.
>
>I got into tech writing because it sounded like an interesting way to use
writing to educate and inform, all the while you're learning all those
systems yourself. Prior to this, I took a job in accounting firm because
graphic design wasnt panning out like I had hoped. I had been at the
accounting firm almost 3 years; it was longest job I'd had anywhere to
date, and I hate finance.
>
>
>PS-I have a suggestion for the Techwr-l list. Maybe everyone's email
responses can be prefaced with a color code indicating experience. For all
the relatively new people, the color would be GREEN. Myself included--I
have been a tech writer for 1 year and 6 months.
>And for the all-knowing, all powerful...maybe SILVER?
>
>Sincerely,
>
>K. Wehle
>
>"It's never too late to be what you might have been" George Eliot aka
Mary Ann Evans
>Great mantra of career-changers
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
> >From: Paul Hanson <PHanson -at- Quintrex -dot- com>
> >Sent: Aug 9, 2006 2:18 PM
> >To: "'Jones, Donna'" <DJones -at- zebra -dot- com>, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> >Subject: RE: Internships (was: Breaking into the tech writing job
market)
> >
> >Went to college to be a high school English teacher, did student
teaching my
> >senior year, hated it, decided to go into something (ANYTHING) else.
Got a
> >low paying job 3 years after graduation. Worked with a great mentor
that
> >taught me a lot about my own writing and instilled some natural
tendencies
> >in how I write that I still have today. The rest of the story is I left
that
> >job after 3 years to work at another company b/c 1) increase in $ and
2) it
> >was for Windows-based software. Then came here when that company had
> >difficulty meeting payroll. I've been here 8 years on 10/1.
> >
> >
> >Paul Hanson
> >Technical Writer
> >Adobe Community Expert - RoboHelp
>
>http://www.macromedia.com/support/forums/team_macromedia/team_members/200
.ht
> >ml
> >Quintrex Data Systems
> >http://www.quintrex.com
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Jones, Donna
> >
> >I think this calls for an informal poll:
> >
> >- How many of you who actually started out wanting to be a tech writer
began
> >as a tech writing intern?
> >- How many of you who started out as something else were interns?
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