Re: Breaking in

["Christopher M. Fisher" <Christopher_M_Fisher -at- ANDERSEN -dot- COM>]

> Let's get specific -- in the tech writing field, how far would
> I (reasonably) get with a BA in English Lit, a diploma in Business
> Admin/Accounting from an accredited Business College, and a few
> Tech Writing courses (but not enough to make a minor)?
> I've had experience with MS Word for Windows, UNIX, DOS, etc.,
> but no programming (unless you count dBase, which I've been told
> I shouldn't).

I absolutely agree with Kayla's point concerning the importance of a broad
base.  Before landing my present position (i.e. during college), my career ran
the gamut from PASCAL programming to amateur filmmaking (I actually received my
BA in Cinema Studies!), with plenty of peon-type customer service/temp jobs
thrown in.  In addition, I spent over two years as a hack writer for the campus
newspaper, focusing mainly on writing music/film/theater reviews.  My relatives
spent hours lecturing me that I was setting myself up for a catastrophic
failure in the "real world."

Surprise, surprise...  After years of writing hack copy, I finally managed to
impress someone on the newspaper board, and I found myself holding a section
editor job; a single year of that was enough to catch the attention of an HR
person at Andersen Consulting.  I have to admit, I was really lucky; although
they were ostensibly looking for a Tech Writer, they really wanted someone with
a more diverse background, since the actual scope of the position hadn't been
stabilized at that point.  During the two years I've served as a Communication
Specialist (nee Tech Writer) with AC, I've found myself drawing on experience
from almost every job I've held: writing and editing world-class systems
development methodology, designing high-profile marketing pieces, and producing
training videotapes.  I don't think that I would have been nearly as effective
without all of this "unrelated" experience.

In short (I can hear my boss heading down the corridor to ask about my latest
deadline :-), keep writing and your ship *will* come in.  And don't forget that
every bit of experience counts!

--Chris Fisher (still w/o a .SIG file)
  cfisher -at- andersen -dot- com

"If you can't annoy someone, there's little point in writing."
  --Kingsley Amis