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In response to Shelly LaRock's question, not all tech communicators
change jobs every two or three years, voluntarily or not. I've been in
my current position almost 11 years, five as a contractor-consultant,
and six as an employee. Despite the 25% downsizing my company is about
to go through, I knew my job was secure. I'm leaving for other
reasons:
> After 11 years working in a government environment, I need to get
back into the commercial world.
> Had I chosen to stay, my software doc team would have been
consolidated into a company-wide tech pubs organization, and I would
no longer have been able to do the kind of work I want to do.
> I've wanted to set up my own consulting business for several years,
and the separation incentive my company was offering was too good to
pass up.
Perhaps there's a perception that we technical communicators change
jobs often because so many of us are part of the software industry,
where job changes (both voluntary and not) are almost as much a part
of life as breathing.
Just one person's opinion . . . .
--George Hayhoe (george -dot- hayhoe -at- srs -dot- gov)
Assistant to the President for Recognition Programs, STC
