How I'm getting started in TW

[Christina Downs <DOWNS -at- SERVICEWARE -dot- COM>]

Even though I'm still a newbie, I wanted to jump on the memory lane
bandwagon and share my experiences.

I started at the Univ. of Pittsburgh a little over 9 years ago in the
Electrical Engineering program.  By my 2nd/3rd year, I suspected it might
not be for me.  (I was good at and liked some of the classes, but there were
just too many classes that couldn't hold my interest and caused me too much
pain.  I made it through all the classes, but it was a struggle at times.)

Not wanting to completely *quit*, I added a second major, English Writing
(fiction track) (I love to write!).  The writing and lit. classes saved me
from a fate worse than death to me (5 EE classes in one semester).  Allowing
my creative side room to maneuver kept me sane my last few years.  (When
people asked me what my major was, they always commented that it's such an
unusual combination.  That's when I began to realize that maybe it was a
good thing that I could handle both left-brain and right-brain activities,
even if one seemed to dominate the other.)

At some point, I entered the cooperative education (co-op) program in the
engineering department and got a job for a company that manufactures valves.
I alternated semesters of work and school until I graduated.  At that
company, I had a lot of fun.  I worked in the lab testing valves for UL
requirements and wrote up the lab reports.  I got to solder valves, blow up
valves, freeze valves, you name it.  There were 2 or 3 other co-op students
there, too, and my boss and others at the plant were wonderful, so it was a
pretty nice work environment.

I finally graduated (it took me 6 years) a little over 3 years ago with 2
bachelor's degrees: English Writing and Electrical Engineering.  By then, of
course, I knew I didn't want to officially pursue a career in engineering.
I told my family and friends I wanted to be a Technical Writer, but I didn't
even really know what it was or what was involved.  I just knew I liked to
write.

I went to a job fair during my last semester at Pitt and left my resume for
a company looking for technical writers (it was late in the day, and the
company reps had already left).  A couple of interviews followed (both with
that company and a few others), and that company hired me as a Knowledge
Engineer, to write content for knowledge bases (that's it in a very small
nutshell).  I started 2 days after I graduated (ruining my plans to move to
Ocean City, MD for the summer and write a novel on the beach!).  I've been
at this same company since May 1995.

This past February, our department went through a re-org, and the Knowledge
Engineer position was separated into 2 positions: SME and Technical Writer.
I was put in the TW group (which fit my career goals very well - I'm still
amazed at the effort the managers took when deciding who went where - they
really considered our talents and desires!).

With the re-org came additional training, and we've had a few TW seminars
with Dr. Karen Schriver (owner of KSA Document Design in Oakmont, PA and
author of Dynamics in Document Design).  Dr. Schriver is an expert in
information design and a dynamic speaker.  Our team has learned so much from
her, and we are now in the process of setting up the first of what we hope
will be many usability tests.  I've also gone to a few STC meetings and
joined this mailing list (where I've mainly lurked and learned).

In a few weeks, I will be starting an M.A. in Professional Writing at
Carnegie Mellon (right next door to Pitt!), with a concentration in
technical writing.  There I'll learn many of the tools everyone discusses on
this list, as well as gain more varied writing experience.  (There are many
things I haven't done yet, such as software documentation.)

I'm excited about the variety of opportunities out there in the technical
writing field, and I'm glad it seems to be working out for me so far!

P.S. I'm also getting married this October, so my professional life isn't
the only thing that's flourishing!

Thanks for reading...  Take care!

Chris
Christina M. Downs
Technical Writer, Content Development
ServiceWare, Inc., Oakmont, PA
412-826-1158 X225
E-mail: downs -at- serviceware -dot- com


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