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 probably fall into this group. I actually did stay 11 years at
one job (as an engineer) until the company's business plan
hit an iceberg and it began throwing employees overboard.
Since then my personal best has been about 5 years.
Most of the new skills I have picked up over the years were
the result of a need that came up after I joined a company.
If I feel a burning desire to acquire a new skill I just go and
get it, whether I need it on the job or not. I've never changed
jobs because I wanted a "new skillset." The idea of leaving
an employer that is a good place to work in every other way
just to learn something new seems to me kind of, well, flaky,
and I would probably think twice about hiring a candidate
whose only reason for wanting to work for my company
was "to learn something new."
That said, if we took a survey of peoples' employment
experiences I would guess it would show that most
companies that hire tech writers are a lot more flaky,
unstable or lacking in the necessary basic skills to
succeed in their industries than any writers they hire.
> Certain people that I could name have simply moved from job to job only
> because jobs disappeared or because a position became unpleasant. They
> routinely held a position for 7 years, 10 years, longer. They remained
> unexposed to entire major facets of the industry - such as Help - for
> years and years after such tools/delivery platforms/methods became
> popular. Yet those same people stepped up with alacrity when the company
> (or the writer(s) themselves) decided that a different solution was
> needful. Soon, they were churning out creditable work in the new form,
> just as they had for years in older forms. No directed schedule of
> acquiring the new skillset (by jumping to a company that used it);
> instead, they just picked 'em up when the opportunity or the need arose,
> without changing employers.
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