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>Perhaps I am way out in left field (again), but to my
>Winnie-the-Pooh mentality, it seems logical that a
>person should have SOME experience in a discipline
>BEFORE undertaking a master's program (in that
>discipline).
You're talking about a real Catch-22 here. How can someone get experience
without a) experience or b) education/training? I entered an MSTC program
without previous tech writing experience. When I started school, I was still
working at an "old" job to continue supporting my family. I knew I needed to
get experience somewhere, so I enlisted the assistance of the Internship
Department Coordinator at my school.
The process was discouraging. Even though the Internship Coordinator had
quite a few leads and was proactive in contacting many companies, real
interest was not very forthcoming. After nearly nine months, I was finally
offered an internship position at a company I really liked. However, due to
miscommunication between the Tech Pubs manager and her boss, she called me
with the offer but said apologetically that it would come with no pay.
When I politely declined, she gave me the phone number of another Tech Pubs
manager, a friend of hers who she said might be looking for interns. When I
spoke to the second manager, she said they had no internships but encouraged
me to apply for one of two entry-level positions that had just opened in her
department.
I did and have now been employed for nearly two years by the manager and
Tech Pubs group who were willing to take a chance on someone whose stated
motivation they hoped would make up for lack of experience. Although it took
me a while to "plateau off" the initial learning curve, I have always kept
my head far enough above water to be considered an asset rather than a
liability.
Everyone has to start somewhere. Go, newbie! As Jim Frazer intimated, one of
the biggest things you have to deal with is politics. So what's new? You'll
do fine.
