Re: Advice for someone re-entering the work force

[Laura Praderio Lynn <lpraderio -at- alpineclimbs -dot- com>]

hi,

wow.sorry to hear of the politics of divorce affecting your friend so
grossly. this is obviously a negligent man and i would recommend your
friend get a good lawyer who can make a case about how the computer
field has changed in 20 yrs and how technical writing mirrors those
changes.

also, journals like the wall street journal have articles on how hard it
is to get back into the work force. go to working woman magazine and see
what they say. no sense in not slapping some stats in the lawyer's face.

being occupied by another career (primary care giver) for 20 years sadly
does not make your field "easily" viable in the technical communication
field...i don't think. i'm sorry. i hope i'm absolutely positively wrong
wrong wrong. the soon-to-be-ex's lawyer is talking out the other hole in
his/her head because it won't be easy to get a job.

i work in the denver market and have for about 10 yrs now; i came from
the boston and california markets before that and can tell you with full
confidence that there are fewer jobs here in denver. also, there are
lots of writers with experience willing to work for peanuts. i'm seeing
people with 15-20 years charging $30-35/hour. as someone else on this
list just wrote, you're killing the rates for the writers who consider
themselves professional. `-)

so to answer your questions dircectly...

Does anyone have any feel for how easy it might be for someone in this
situation to find a technical writing job in today's market?
not easy.not easy at all.

If so, what range of salary might she expect?
very low. $10/hour is my gross guess.

What kind of positions or companies would it make sense for her to target?
anyplace that will give her a chance. i would encourage her to enroll in
 a master's program in the field, as with csu in fort collins or du in
denver, and take one class a semester as it would be affordable and she
can generate a portfolio and at least have classes current on her
resume. maybe she could find a paid internship.

My friend has gray hair and uses a hearing aid. How much "ageism" is she
likely to encounter in this field?
as a manager i wouldn't consider this an issue but some people may. i
don't know.

Would it perhaps make more sense for her to try to parlay her volunteer
work for social service agencies into work in that area?
if it is what she loves to do then it makes 100% of sense. if you do
what you love, the money will follow.
> 
> I'm thinking she should take some classes in MS Office (Word, Office, PowerPoint) at a minimum. Are there other classes you think are critical? 
anything that is free is good. there are lots of free online courses.

(She doesn't have a lot of time or money to spend on more education.)
> 
> Any thoughts or perspective you can share would be much appreciated, as I'm pretty biased in this situation.
i would say your friend should think about having a portfolio of jobs;
leverage her volunteer skills into a paid part-time or full-time job,
then taking one course, and adapting to a new lifestyle.

also, slap those "workforce" stats in the lawyer's face. check out the
bureau of labor and statistics; they may have some data on how hard it
is to get back into the workforce.


best of wishes.

laura

> 
> Thanks,
> Mary
> 
> 
> 
> 
>       
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
> ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and 
> publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical 
> authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
> http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
> 
> True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
> 
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as lpraderio -at- alpineclimbs -dot- com -dot- 
> 
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/lpraderio%40alpineclimbs.com
> 
> 
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> 
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
> 
> 
> 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and 
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical 
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.