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My model for someone with decent long-term professional prospects (either as an in-house employee or a successful self-employed vendor/consultant) is someone with hands-on experience as an engineer, scientist, project manager, programmer, service technician, etc., plus what you're teaching under the "communications" program. Anyone else is seriously at-risk for being unemployable except as an hourly worker
I think you are absolutely correct. But . . .
. . .and the non-writing "communicator" jobs that I predicted will degrade to hourly support jobs will follow to wherever the "nontechnical" technical writer jobs end up (everybody today worries about India, but I think ten years from now India will be looking for someplace to offshore as well).
The "technical communicators" that I suggest don't write include technical animators (who will probably end up overseas), and communications directors (or people who are qualified to be communications directors, creative directors, project managers, publication coordinators, managing editors, etc.), who will probably not go overseas. These are the positions well educated technical communicators with a habit of life-long learning tend to fill. The positions require some, but not much of the technical-professional background Kim-Eng requires, but typically, they require significant knowledge of current publication processes, tools, and laws. These are the positions that are less likely to get outsourced.
As to titles? I agree with those who say titles are unimportant . . . but, I suggest that what you do is important.
David E. Hailey, Jr., Ph.D.
Associate Professor -- Professional and Technical Writing
Utah State University
dhailey -at- english -dot- usu -dot- edu
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