Stepping into the Freelance World, Part 2: Getting to Work

The second part of a series on making the move to freelance technical writing. This installment discusses how to gigs and get paid.

DMN Communications (2009). Careers>Freelance>Advice

Outplacement: Why It Doesn't Work

If you are offered career transition support as part of your severance, do yourself a favour and opt out of the collective program, but find out how much has been set aside for the outplacement program. Then, ask your HR department to hold those funds for you until you can find an independent career consultant to work with, on an individual, tailored-to-your-needs, custom program. Independent career consultants like myself can work with you for a much longer period of time for the same budget the company is prepared to allocate to the big firm. When you find your independent, personal career consultant or coach, they can invoice your former company, and your ex-employer’s conscience can rest easy. And you can then arrange with your personal career coach when you want to start and how fast you want to go. At your convenience, not theirs.

Hamer, Emma C. Hamer Associates (2009). Careers>Unemployment>Advice

Six Ways to Ruin Your Résumé

If you avoid these all-too-common mistakes that can be found in résumés for all kinds of IT positions, you'll boost your chance of landing the job.

Schaffer, Greg. Computerworld (2009). Careers>Resumes>Advice

Job Hunting Resources: Webcasts

The current economic downturn seems to have impacted almost every industry within the United States and many abroad. It has already had a direct impact on the employment status of an increasing number of individuals, including technical communicators. STC will assist with an economic recovery plan for those technical communicators who have already been laid off or expect to be soon. These only work for Internet Explorer users on Microsoft Windows computers.

STC (2009). Careers>Advice>Unemployment>STC

What To Do When Unemployed

Lost your technical communicator job? Wondering what to do? Wondering where to go? Here are some key actions to take when you find out you don't have a job to return to the next day.

STC Austin (2009). Careers>Unemployment>Advice

Mining for Career Gold: Discovering Related Careers from Buried Skills    

Set aside your job title and current responsibilities when considering a related career field to move into. Ost uses charts and matrices to illustrate how thinking about skills, interests, duties, and other aspects of your professional life can open up a world of opportunities.

Ost, Diana. Intercom (2009). Careers>Advice>Planning

"Telescoping" to Survive This Recession    

“Telescoping,” or extending and adding to the range of services you provide, is one way to survive this recession, according to Frick.

Frick, Elizabeth G. 'Bette'. Intercom (2009). Careers>TC>Advice

Don't Stop Learning!

This article examines the need for continuous learning and the challenges that working professionals must overcome to invest in learning. It also explores how experience makes us better learners, and analyzes the relative effectiveness of various learning techniques.

Dhanagopal, Kumar. Indus (2009). Careers>Advice

You Are What You Do?

It's easy enough to fall into the trap of identifying yourself with what you do for a living. This blog post looks at why you shouldn't do that.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Careers>Advice

Draw the Line: When and How to Stop Giving Away Professional Advice

People are unabashed about asking for web advice and help related to blogs, social media, networking and other web work because they don’t regard it as a specialized service the way they do with medical and legal expertise. I’m not saying giving away freebies is always a definite no-no, but I do think that as web workers we need to start reinforcing the value of our work by drawing a line between friendly advice and working for free. Here’s how I’m trying to create that demarcation.

Etherington, Darrell. Web Worker Daily (2009). Careers>Consulting>Advice

The Four Layers of the “Learning Pyramid” for a Junior Technical Communicator

Once you take an interest in technical communication and documentation you’ll quickly discover that’s it’s an “endless country,” really. There is so much to learn and track since both the market and the technology changes constantly. But this does not mean that you can learn things randomly and become a successful technical communicator. Actually there’s a better way that I call the “Learning Pyramid” which requires you establish a wide base of learning first and keep on building the upper layers on top of such a strong foundation. Each layer of this pyramid supports the more specialized layer established on top it.

Technical Communication Center (2009). Careers>TC>Advice

Four Useful Skills for the Technical Communicator

Skills. For the technical communicator, skills should go beyond the tools and techniques of the trade. This blog post looks at four skills that will be of use to any technical communicator.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Careers>TC>Advice

Making Spaces in Cluttered Houses and Cluttered Lives

Putting Pedersen’s advice to practice, step one is to make a place for everything in our lives. Figure out where it belongs. Just as you can’t organize a house if you have no where to put things, you can’t organize your life if you have no way space for the activities. If something doesn’t fit, it’s time for a trip to the figurative Salvation Army (we call them Deseret Industries here). In other words, simplify.

Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2009). Careers>Project Management>Advice>Workflow

What to Do When You Have Nothing Better to Do

Most designers, for most of their education and careers, have been trained to think of themselves as problem solvers. True. But that doesn't mean we can't seek out the problems we want to solve too; there's no law that says that you have to be part of an organization to take on a cause you're passionate about.

Simmons, Christopher. Core77 (2009). Careers>Unemployment>Advice>Graphic Design

Dear Viv: Switching Careers

I worked as a technical writer many years ago and then quit to take care of my kids. Now I'd like to get back into the field. How do I get my foot in the door when all employers require experience?

Carolina Communique (2009). Careers>Writing>Advice>Technical Writing

Five Ways To Scare Your Web Dev Clients Away

Some folks may find it impressive that you know the ins and out of UNIX and how your last open source coding project attracted media attention, but the majority do not. Especially when acronyms start spewing forth with articulated speed. Keep in mind that executives are employed to keep you employed and need to understand your ideas to communicate them to stakeholders and customers. One way to minimize 'tech' talk is to include the following words into each technical statement: We are using [technology/programming language] to enhance [a specific part] of our business.

Varty, Sue. Web Design Dev (2009). Careers>Freelance>Advice>Web Design