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Subject:Re: FWD: Career changer vs. entry level From:The Tech Writer <techwrtr -at- CRL -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 28 Oct 1997 15:54:34 -0800
> >I have a snazzy portfolio, but it consists mostly of marketing/graphic
> >design projects. I foolishly didn't keep copies of the "boring" things like
> >software manuals that I updated and rewrote over the years. At the time it
> >never occurred to me that I would someday make a living doing just that.
> >
> >I'm quite sure I'm not the only one who has decided to make a career of tech
> >writing a bit later than the college years. Is there some way I get around
> >being penalized for not having been able to know the future?
Y'know, I think that most of the posts about what hiring managers look for
haven't been based on what really happens. At least, not on what has
happened the times that I've been involved with hiring someone. About the
only criterion that gets a resume tossed out-of-hand is typos. Well, if
they don't have enough of the qualifications that are posted with the job
advertisement, maybe then, too. But as far as actually *getting* an
interview: if you can put together a concise resume that is geared toward
that job (you should steer away from a "general purpose" resume, opting
instead to tailor it to each position, even if that only involves
reshuffling your bulleted lists so that the most relevant ones are on
top), then you're likely to get at least an interview.
Once there, if you can come off as someone who is both professional and
easy to get along with...those are the two things that are most
likely to make people want to hire you. Of course, provide good samples,
but realize that they probably won't have much time to look at them...if
they did have the time, they wouldn't need to hire you!
But, as I mentioned, this is based on my experience. YMMV.
