The Business of Technical Communication
This monthly column focuses on the business side of technical communication. Here's where you can get the latest scoop on industry trends in areas like employment, salaries, job search techniques, and marketable skills. Use this information to become more market savvy and create strategies that will help you make the most of your career as a technical communicator. Please send your comments, questions, and suggestions for future articles to the column editor, Doug Davis (ddavis@ProEdit.com).
Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling
Published on-line: May 2008
In 1979, Katherine Lawrence and Marianne Schreiber of Hewlett-Packard first coined the term “glass ceiling” to describe the barriers for career advancement that women face in male-dominated companies. But there is another type of glass ceiling that we don’t like to talk much about.
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The Tipping Point Theory
Published on-line: March 2008
One day they are fiery hot. The next day they are icy cold. No, I’m not talking about your spouse. I’m talking about hiring managers. Is it you? Is it them? Are they bipolar? Are they sadistic?
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Recession Obsession
Published on-line: February 2008
Just say the word recession enough times and people will start freaking out. Worse yet, say depression and just watch the suits start ripping their ties off. We are very emotional creatures when it comes to our financial security, and justifiably so. After all, who among us has not, at some time, found themselves on the wrong side of a profit and loss statement?
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Hello, My Name is Doug and I’m a Workaholic
Published on-line: November 2007
Well, make that a recovering workaholic. These days I’m a devout believer in Ronald Reagan’s statement: “They say hard work never hurt anybody, but I figure why take any chances?”
But there was a time, early in my career as a technical communicator, when I was definitely a workaholic. I always worried about work. I had trouble sleeping at night because I was afraid I’d miss an early morning meeting the next day. My home life was in shambles. I was a real mess. Does any of this sound familiar? Read on, my friends.
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Who’s Next? Making Your Job Outsource-proof
Published on-line: October 2007
Fellow technical communicators, what I’m about to say is not going to win me any popularity contests. It’s the 1,000-pound gorilla in the living room. It’s the emperor’s new clothes. Here it is. Ready? Outsourcing is here to stay. But why? Because a whole lot of the time, those outsourcing relationships work out just fine for the companies that choose to pursue them.
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Technical Communication: Love It or Leave It
Published on-line: September 2007
Our industry has more than its share of grumpy practitioners to whom the art of creating technical information means nothing more than a paycheck. They spend their days daydreaming of what their careers might have been if only this and that had happened. They go to sleep each night dreading the thought of another day working on that manual or with that person. To them I say, “Enough is enough.” Love it or leave it!
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Survey Results: Top Industries for Technical Communicators
Published on-line: July 2007
In April 2007, I conducted a survey designed to identify the industries that hire the largest number of technical communicators. In this month’s column, we will dig into the results of that survey and provide insight on how the technical communication market is changing right before our eyes. Warning: The following information may be hazardous to your preconceptions.
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Rising from the Mat: Job Openings for Technical Communicators
Published on-line April 2007
Optimism. The dictionary says it’s “the tendency to believe, expect, or hope that things will turn out well.” Are you naturally optimistic? I am. Do you often find that your undying optimism is really irritating to your family, friends, and coworkers? Yep. I do too.
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Hello? . . . The Art of the Telephone Interview
Published on-line: March 2007
What happens over the next two minutes will make or break your chances of getting your next job. The next two minutes could be life changing. The next two minutes could revive or end your career.
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Industrial-strength Technical Communication
Published on-line: January 2007
In the nineties, if an employer took one glance at your résumé and started to fall in love with you, it probably had a lot to do with your long list of software tool skills. Nowadays, most employers couldn’t care less about tools. It’s all about industry experience.
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Where Are All The Jobs?
Published on-line: October 2006
You sit in your favorite comfy chair and open the Sunday newspaper. The economy is steadily improving. Good. Unemployment rates are down. Nice. You've seen all the data. You've read the reports. So, where are all the jobs?
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Why Do We Gamble with Our Careers?
Published on-line: September 2006
At last May’s STC conference in Las Vegas, I hosted a progression roundtable on employment trends in our industry, during which I stumbled upon an unusual piece of demographic data about my colleagues: Technical communicators don’t gamble.
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