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Mark Baker wrote:
<snip>
> Technical communication has been promoted, for a few years now, as the way
> for arts graduates to jump on the high tech gravy train and I would have to
> guess that most of the entry level non-technical tech writing positions are
> pretty much filled by now.
<snip>
> The world is full of arts grads. What there will never be enough of --
> because being one is hard -- is technical writers with real technical skill.
> I suspect that what will get people into this profession in the future will
> not be experience so much as differentiation. Find a way to differentiate
> yourself -- and this means a hard technical skill of some sort -- and your
> chances will improve.
<snip>
Very well said! I never really thought of it that way, but I think that is
exactly the scenario. Being able to write usually isn't enough. One needs to
have some technical ability as well, be it software, hardware, communication,
engineering, or whatever. After all that is what the "technical" in "technical
writer" stands for.
Suzette Seveny
Markham, Ontario, Canada
sseveny -at- petvalu -dot- com or suzette -at- yesic -dot- com
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