Expand your Skills in 2004

A sure way to find new work opportunities is to expand the range of skills you offer your employer or clients.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2004). Careers>Advice>TC

How Have You Advanced Your Career?  

Three technical communication gurus answer the question, 'What single action or decision did more to advance your career than any other?'

Barker, Thomas, Janice Gelb and Donald E. Zimmerman. Intercom (2002). Careers>Advice>TC

Making the Transition from Student to Employee  

Advice to students preparing to become technical communicators.

Alroy, Faye. Intercom (2003). Careers>Advice>TC

Survival Skills for Part-time Technical Writing Parents  

Suggests ways technical communicators can cope with the often-conflicting demands of work and family.

Tremblay, Leanne. Intercom (2001). Careers>Advice>TC

Technical Communication: Love It or Leave It  

In this column, we are going to talk about why some technical communicators just plain hate their jobs. The bottom line is not to just stay in that unhappy place. Make up your mind to do something about it. Make your job into what you want it to be.

Davis, Douglas W. STC (2007). Careers>Advice>TC

Top Five Tips for Starting a New Job

This article offers five tips that can help you get off to a good start in your new job.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. TECHWR-L (2000). Careers>Advice>TC

Transitioning from Literary Studies to Technical Communication

A 250 page manual for a complicated product may be more difficult to write than a master’s thesis. It may require a massive amount of deductive and inductive logic, as you try to figure out how the product works. You may spend months interviewing subject matter experts, asking them hundreds of questions about how the product functions, and then hundreds more to clarify their cryptic answers.

Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Careers>TC>Advice

"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

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