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.
Subject:Re: experience (was associations other than STC) From:"Lori A. Moreland" <Lori -dot- Moreland -at- CLE -dot- AB -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 19 Oct 1994 08:02:55 -0400
Marc Paquette says:
"In other words, while specialization is in right now, my experience
is not strong enough for me to risk concentrating in one field.
I see spreading my professional interests across a few fields as more
important now. Later when I have more credentials, I'll concentrate
on the thing(s) that interest me most.
What do you think? What has been your experience?"
I reply:
Marc, it seems to me that you're absolutely correct in broadening your focus.
I'm a senior techwriter now. When I started as an intern at my first job 8 yrs.
ago, I wrote hardware and software docs. At my second job (which I had for
about 5 years), I mostly wrote hardware. But, since I had done software before,
I could pick up the occasional programming manual. In my current position, I'm
writing about computer-driven hardware. I'm documenting the software, but in
order to do that, I have to understand how the hardware works.
What's my point? That you never know when your experience will serve you- so, by
all means, do everything you can!
Best,
Lori Moreland
Lori -dot- Moreland -at- cle -dot- ab -dot- com
