While the field of usability has existed for decades, the number and quality of careers in the field have greatly improved in the last 10-15 years. The long-term prognosis for the industry is good: there are constant opportunities in almost every industry since new products and technology come out all the time, in usability as well as user-centered design, interaction design and user experience design.
#13530
In the past, companies hired independent contractors to perform special projects. Now, while still used for these purposes, ICs are also used in strategic positions throughout many organizations. The use of ICs in strategic roles is especially beneficial to small and medium-sized businesses that cannot afford the cost of permanently employing individuals for specialized functions. For instance, an experienced technical communicator specializing in project management could be hired by a small business as an independent contractor to provide project management services.
Clements, Rhonda. Technical Communication Online (2002). Careers>Consulting
#18361
Defining Today’s Workplace: Employment Options for Technical Communicators 
A document about employment options for technical communication students.
Bommarito, Julie. Mercer University. Careers>TC>Presentations
#13034
I presented a program recently that gave tips for becoming a more effective delegator. The tips explained the benefits of delegation and how to overcome common barriers. Because you can use these tips whenever you are leading a chapter, a committee, a team, or a department, I want to share them with you. If you are not delegating properly, you are making your own life more difficult. In turn, your subordinates suffer because their interests as well as their talents are being overlooked, however unintentionally.
Laurent, J. Suzanna. Carolina Communique (1999). Careers>Management
#20767
Delivering Bad News Effectively (and Other Useful Communication Skills for Managers)
Learning how to communicate effectively when people problems arise is a key to your success as a manager. To make the process easier for yourself, you should learn to set clear expectations of your employees, make specific observations of their work and behavior, conduct timely communication with them when problems arise, listen closely when they respond, and schedule a follow-up meeting after the crisis has passed.
Giammona, Barbara A. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Management>Communication>Collaboration
#21829
Mavericks need not apply. In Web design, you have to collaborate.
Giordan, Daniel. Adobe Magazine (2000). Careers>Web Design>Collaboration
#29640
Designing and Conducting Effective Role-Play Activities
Role play activities allow learners to test new skills and apply them to the real world. Effective role-plays must be carefully planned and conducted in order to be effective. This article offers advice on creating and conducting role-play activities, and transferring their learnings to the real world.
Swan, Bonnie J. and Carolyn Luttrell. STC Proceedings (2005). Careers>Management
#25157
Getting a job in the design field may not be as easy as you think. Seattle designer Melissa Mason goes for yet another job interview in pursuit of a big agency design job.
Mason, Melissa. Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Careers>Graphic Design>Regional>Puget Sound
#10567
Offers a large database of jobs for Software Developers and IT Professionals with the option to sign up for an email notification of the latest additions to the database.
#24388
Developing a Chapter Career Day Program
In the past few years, our chapter has presented three or four Saturday workshops per year, including the Career Day workshop. (We offer the Saturday workshops as an alternative to the usual monthly chapter dinner meeting.) We developed our Career Day program with two tracks—one for novice technical communicators (and curious laypeople), and another for persons with some experience in the field. Initially, we cooperated with a smaller, nearby chapter with many of the same employment issues.
Thomstatter, John H. Tieline (2000). Careers>Mentoring>Community Building
#24692
Developing a Chapter Mentoring Program
In an effort to promote and encourage an interest in the field of technical communication through academic/professional relationships, the New York Metro Chapter has developed a mentoring pilot program with Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) in Madison, New Jersey. The chapter, along with Dr. Michael B. Goodman, Director of FDU’s M.A. program in Corporate and Organizational Communication, coordinated their efforts to select members who can serve as role models for students interested in this field.
Epp, Barbara E. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Mentoring>Community Building>STC
#29798
Part of professional development involves recognizing your strengths and learning how to express it to others. It is a helpful exercise to develop a tagline for yourself, in the same way that professionals in a previous generation were encouraged to develop a mission statement. With shortening attention spans, today's professional needs only a few-word tagline to fit in the sound bite of management's smaller time slots. Beyond what Chris Benz would call shameless self-promotion, having a personal tagline keeps your career development focused and on track.
Albing, Bill. Carolina Communique (2007). Careers>Business Communication>Workflow
#20081
Developing a Successful, Low-Maintenance Internship Program
EDS High Tech Publications has developed a successful, low maintenance internship program. The program was designed to meet the needs of all the participants. EDS cultivates a talent pool to hire from and provides training for their own employees. Interns develop jobs skills and gain experience. The schools establish ties with local professionals.
Smimov, Lynette L.. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Internships>Education
#14791
Developing a Web-Based Portfolio
Kendus discusses the benefits of online portfolios for job candidates and offers tips on creating them.
Kendus, Steven M. Intercom (2002). Careers>Portfolios>Web Design
#12929
Developing an Annotated Portfolio 
Maybe you don't have a project that's all your own. Or, maybe you don't have many completed projects to show a prospective employer. But, you do have skills in planning documents, compiling and organizing information, writing, editing, and designing...right? Put those skills to use and create an annotated portfolio of your work that includes excerpts of what you have done, demonstrates your capabilities to develop documents, and makes potential employers look twice. But wait. How can you create a portfolio without actual portfolio pieces? You can, by examining what you have done, examining what skills you've contributed, gathering reader/boss/coworker comments, and developing a cohesive document.
Ray, Deborah S. TECHWR-L (2001). Careers>Portfolios
#19478
Developing an Effective Online Marketing Plan
A business plan is a basic strategic guide showing where your business should be going over the next one to five years. A marketing plan is a subset of the business plan. It lays out the goals and quantifiable objectives for all of your company’s marketing activities, such as TV, radio, print, or online. An online marketing plan is a subset of the marketing plan for all online activities. The center of the plan is the Web site, but the overall plan could include more than just the site. It could include e-mail, mail subscriptions or lists, newsgroups, online advertising, and even chat room participation. This paper discusses the elements of an online marketing plan, the strategy, tactics, and offers. It also briefly discusses an example project.
Caldanaro, Regina M. and Jodie Pait. STC Proceedings (2001). Careers>Management>Marketing
#23552
Developing Effective Mentorships for Technical Communicators
Mentorships can contribute significantly to the career success of technical communicators. Effective mentorships are established and maintained by finding the right persons to be mentors through active listening, careful observation, personal analysis, willingness to be influenced, coached and taught, and allowing mentoring relationships to emerge over time. Such mentorships benefit both individual technical communicators by furthering their selfdevelopment and careers, and they benefit their corporations by enhancing morale and productivity.
Shirk, Henrietta Nickels and Howard T. Smith. STC Proceedings (1994). Careers>Mentoring
#29767
Developing High-Performing Teams
Social psychology and organization development suggest that virtually all people, and all teams, must deal with conflicting impulses toward effective and ineffective behaviour. Research shows that it is a basic human trait to want to succeed, to be in control, and to avoid embarrassment. Group dynamics research also suggests that teams operate on two dimensions: the task or work dimension, and the social or relationship dimension. High-performing teams pay attention to both the task and social environments. They create an environment that minimizes the occurrence of face-saving and defensive behaviour. This environment is usually characterized by honesty and authenticity, by the use of relevant and verifiable information, and by a willingness to own up to mistakes.
Conklin, John James. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Collaboration>Management>Workplace
#28188
Developing Technical Curiosity: A Marketable Skill
Every technical writer should have strong writing skills. Just as important, in my judgment, is a keen sense of technical curiosity. As a hiring manager, I look for it in every job applicant I interview. If you do not have this sense naturally, you can develop it.
Harvey, Michael. Carolina Communique (2003). Careers>TC>Collaboration
#13111
Developing Your Online Portfolio
Online (Web, CD, digital, electronic) portfolios are an important and emerging tool for technical communicators. Creation, design, and distribution, as well as stylistic concerns, are critical issues in the development of an online portfolio. This paper provides suggestions for preparing an online portfolio and is the result of information gained from an online survey of working technical communicators.
Barry, Kevin M. and Jill C. Wesolowski. STC Proceedings (2001). Careers>Portfolios>Online
#10784
This sixty-one slide presentation takes job seekers through a comprehensive interactive workshop about the drafting and desigining of their resume sections, including the contact information, the objective statement, the education section, the experience section, and the honors and activities section.
#24931
The Diary as a Professional Development Tool
This progression session focuses on diaries as serious tools for professional development. We discuss attitudes toward keeping diaries; issues such as anonymity and confidentiality; and strategies for tapping the full potential of the diary as a source of creativity and guidance.
Janicko, Raymond P. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Project Management
#13054
Instructional designers increasingly find technical communicators in their territory, as technical communicators find instructional designers. Is this increasing contact merely a coincidence, or does it portend an evolutionary merger of the two fields?
Carliner, Saul. Saul Carliner Studio (2001). Careers>Education>Instructional Design
#29769
Digital Portfolios: How to Market Your Skills!
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune last year suggests that technology workers need a variety of skills that include soft skills--good communication skills and the ability to work in teams.
Reece, Gloria A. and Louise I. Keeton. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Portfolios>Online
#24210
This unique and lively workshop is based on an ingenious board game developed by the Office of Ethics and Business Conduct for the Lockheed Martin Corporation, under a special copyright agreement with Scott Adams. It uses the famous characters in the cartoon strip, including celebrated ethicist Dogbert™, to inject a spirit of fun into the heavy debate that often swirls around the thorny ethical dilemmas we confront in the workplace. Here, teams of technical communicators will compete to see who can best balance ethical values with business realities and come out with practical, honest solutions. While the vehicle is rather lighthearted, the content is anything but. The case histories are carefully designed to cut to the moral chase. There are no right or wrong answers—only good, better, best, not so good, and Dogbert™. Yes, there's an answer key, but that, too, is controversial. What? No clear answers? Of course not. That's the whole point.
Voss, Daniel W. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Workplace>Ethics
#23687
Direct Engagements: How Contractors Can Take Advantage
Many STC members work independently as freelancers, temps, or consultants. In some recent presentations I’ve given to STC members, many independent workers have asked me about ways to get more money and satisfaction out of their contracting careers. Almost invariably, my advice is to explore the possibilities of engaging clients directly, rather than using a staffing or consulting company.
Zaino, Gene. MetroVoice (2003). Careers>Freelance
