Searching for a job is hard work, no doubt, and it often isn’t as simple as sending out a general resume and strolling through an interview process. Instead, it’s often a multi-phase process that takes time and effort: You update your resume. You craft a letter of application. You select samples from past projects that [...] Continue reading ...
Five Strategies for Conveying “I’m a Will-Do Person” in Your Job Search Documents
Although many potential employers do look to match an applicant’s skills, experience, and knowledge to the job they’re filling, they are really looking for one basic thing: Can–and will–this person do the job that they need done? With that in mind, your goal is not only to showcase your relevant skills, knowledge, and experience, but [...] Continue reading ...
Techie Technical Writer Series, Part III: Faking It as a Techie Writer
This is Part 3 of 3 in the Techie Technical Writer Series See also Part 1 of this series, Being a Techie Writer See also Part 2 of this series, Becoming a Techie Writer These articles have been filed under Getting Started in Technical Writing If you’re not yet a techie technical writer but are [...] Continue reading ...
Techie Technical Writer Series, Part I: Being a Techie Writer
What's the difference between a "technical" writer and a technical "writer"? Depends on who you ask, but it can often be measured in tens of thousands of dollars annually, dramatically reduced frustration in working with developers and engineers, freedom to work more independently, effectively, and efficiently than you thought possible, and even in the ability to telecommute or freelance more readily. Continue reading ...
Techie Technical Writer Series, Part II: Becoming a Techie Writer
Just for perspective, I'm writing this not as a techie who thinks he knows the secrets, but rather as an inveterate geek who nonetheless started his first technical writing job with minimal (inadequate) proficiency with Word Perfect 4.2 and his second with a hazy notion at best of what a network might actually be. As a matter of fact, in my first technical writing job, I spent hours reformatting text because I didn't know how to use table cells to make text align properly, and I had to be forcefully dragged into using styles rather than a simple formatting (Shift-F5, I believe) command. That said, I'm now a reasonably techie technical writer ... Continue reading ...