December 2003/January 2004

Volume 44, Number 3

Tips from the trenches

by Deb Lockwood

In my opinion, one of the most interesting questions you can ask a technical communicator is: "So, how did you get into the business?" It's interesting because everyone has a great story, and we all have come to approximately the same point by taking very different paths. This month, I asked our Rocky Mountain chapter members the following question: "How did you get into the technical communication field?" I received many replies, and without further ado, here they are:

Larry Beckett

I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Electronic Engineering Technology from the DeVry Institute of Technology in Phoenix. I went to work for HP as a line technician repairing equipment used to bond microchips to substrates. As I worked on the equipment, I began to notice patterns of problems with equipment breakdown, and I attributed much of it to improper operator use. I suggested to my boss that I could write a training manual for all new hires and existing operators to show them how to avoid causing equipment breakdown. My boss agreed, so I wrote the manual and started conducting training classes. As a result, equipment downtime decreased dramatically.

My boss suggested that since I seemed to have a natural flair for writing and training that I should look into being a technical writer with the company. I internally applied for a position in technical writing and was hired for the job. That was almost 25 years ago, and I've been doing it ever since. And I might add, loving it. I have always loved words, and now I get paid both to write them and to edit (read) them. I'm currently an independent contractor doing both writing and editing in Fort Collins, Loveland, Denver, and Longmont.

Kit Brown

I wanted to be a veterinarian and had just graduated with a biology degree from Colorado State University but had been declined admission to vet school. I knew that I didn't want to wash glassware in a lab for $6/hr, which is about all you can do with a BS in biology if you don't have a teaching certificate, so I talked to my professors. One of my natural resources professors told me that I was a "pretty good writer" and that his buddy, Don Zimmerman, in the Journalism Department was starting a graduate-level program in Technical Communication and that I should go talk to him.

I was working for Ft. Collins' Parks and Recreation Department at the time, and on the day of my appointment, we had a major irrigation line break right about the time I needed to clean up to go to my meeting. All I had time to do was to literally hose the mud off before my meeting. Don looked a little worried when I walked in the door, but he let me into the program anyway, and I became a member of the first graduating class from the MS program at CSU.

I started the program 15 years ago. Since then, I have been a freelance writer and editor, a technical editor for an environmental consulting firm, a technical writer and clinical coordinator for a medical device company, a senior writer for a financial management software company, a technical consultant for a localization company, and now own my own business, Comgenesis, LLC. My jobs have taken me all over the world, and since graduating, I have lived in Ft. Collins and Littleton, CO; Fargo, ND; and now Boise, ID. So far, it's been a fun ride, and I have made most of my job connections through my STC network.

Jane Ellen Combelic

I was mentored into this field. Almost twenty years ago, I was a "wannabe" who took creative writing classes and dreamed of being a writer. I was working part-time as a therapist in a small medical clinic, making a pittance. One day, I filled in for a colleague who was out sick, and I worked with a young patient whose mother happened to be a technical writer. Barbara and I hit it off, and she asked to see some of my writing. Some time later, Barbara told me about a contract editing position at the computer company where she worked. I'll never forget it. We were sitting at the kitchen table in the house where I rented a room, and my eyes popped when she told me the job paid $24,000 a year! Amazingly enough, based on my dismal writing samples and Barbara's recommendation, I got the job. At the time, I didn't even have a bachelor's degree.

Over the next few years, Barbara taught me everything I needed to know, and I ended up with a permanent technical writing position in the same company. The skills she taught me I use to this day, and I will forever be grateful to her for taking me under her wing. I've tried to do the same with young editors and writers along the way. It's been a great field to be in, and at all the companies I've worked for I've met fabulous people. In fact, it's been a blast! Now if I could only finish that novel I started way back when...

David Eason

I did a lot of writing in the Army to interpret personnel and finance regulations for the average soldier, and I was rather good at it, so I had developed an interest in writing long before I took the technical writing class. And a few years ago, my mother sent me a box of stuff from high school. My old essay tests were in the box, and when I read them, I realized that I could actually string words and sentences together rather well even way back then (the early '60s). I retired from the Army in February 1984 after 20 years of service and started college at CU-Denver, taking business courses. One of the requirements was a business/technical writing class. I took it and had so much fun that I decided that when I grew up, I wanted to be a technical writer. I changed my major and finished with a BA in English Writing.

Angela Estes Rank

I often think I'm the exception to the rule of how people become technical communicators, though probably only because I discovered it at a younger age than many. I stumbled onto technical communications when I was in college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. I wanted to major in English as a freshman but was concerned about finding a job after school. After changing my major three times, I finally decided that I should explore the English department more fully. Imagine my surprise and joy when I learned that the department had a technical writing track! I was thrilled that I could major in English while learning a valuable and marketable skill for my future career. I worked at a technical writing internship for a year prior to graduation and landed my first professional technical writing job two weeks after I left school. Seven years later, I know I stumbled onto the right career for me.

Linda G. Gallagher

I'm going to go a little bit backwards in chronology. The final impetus for my becoming a technical communicator as my main focus was a layoff. In 1993 I was laid off from Southwestern Bell in St. Louis, MO. Before that, I'd had several jobs in the "Bell System" at Bell Labs, Bellcore, and Southwestern Bell for 12 years. While the responsibilities of those jobs were different (state regulatory, federal regulatory, department administrative functions like budgets, HR, facilities, etc.); the common thread in those jobs was communicating some type of technical information to people who were new to the particular technology.

Having been unhappy during much of these 12 years in the corporate environment, I decided to seek a different path. Over more than a year, I analyzed what type of work I wanted to do and in what type of environment I wanted to do it. I read books (including "What Color is Your Parachute?") and took various aptitude tests (available for free from the state of Missouri at the time). Ultimately, after much introspection, a short list of things I was good at and liked doing boiled down to the field of technical communication. I knew that was what I wanted to do. Further, I determined that I wanted to do it as an independent. It took a while to come to that conclusion, but when it came down to it, I was completely unable to state what type of company (large, small, people-oriented, etc.). So, when the layoff came about a year after this analysis, I took the opportunity to enter the field of technical communication as an independent. That was 10 years ago. STC has been instrumental in my ability to succeed in the field.

Hank Hering

I was working as an electronic technician at StorageTek when I discovered technical writing. I took a career test at the Front Range Community College (FRCC) Career Center. One of the results was technical writing. The Career Center had a book that described various career options. The information in the book described the functions of a technical writer and who hires them. I noticed StorageTek on the list. One of the writers at StorageTek was kind enough to discuss his role as a technical writer. By the time the conversation was over, I was ready to check into classes at FRCC. Shortly thereafter, I was enrolled in my first class. After completing the degree at FRCC, an opening at StorageTek gave me just the opportunity that I needed. I continued my education at Metro State and have worked as a technical writer for 13 years.

Dawn Schwaderer

I was an English and Psychology major out of college and worked my way into middle management at a manufacturing plant. There I developed and documented business and production systems to help the plant achieve ISO 9001 certification. That experience led me back to my true love: understanding a process, then helping others understand it through effective writing and training. I also came to realize that being a technical communicator would better fit my desired lifestyle. I made the change, worked full-time with a software development group for a few years, and then converted to part-time independent contractor after I started a family. The job allows me to choose my projects and hours so that I can spend more time with my young child.

Brad Shannon

First off, while I have done a lot of communicating about technology in my career, I consider myself more of a "technical marketing" writer than a tech writer. I went to University of Illinois thinking I would be a chemical engineer. ChemE 370, which was Thermodynamics, ended that line of thinking.

While wondering what program I was going to transfer to and still get out in a reasonable time with a diploma, I spotted a poster with information about Miami University's MS in scientific and technical communication. This is the first I had known that there was such a profession. While I enjoyed my engineering and technical classes, I just was not really competing very well (small rural high school education vs. big suburban Chicago high school college preparatory programs). I had gone for engineering because science and math were what challenged me in high school, while English and other communications classes were not that challenging. I decided to play to my strengths with my communication skills and communicate about technology. So I transferred to the English and rhetoric program to graduate. I worked editing peer-reviewed research journals, then a trade journal, before moving into high-tech PR and marketing communications. I took classes at Colorado State toward my MS in technical communications and now just need to finish my thesis.

Martha Sippel

During the summer of 1992, I was a geologist at a small oil and gas firm. My coworkers were distraught when several employees were laid off in one fell swoop. In addition, my husband had been working overseas for two months, and the next week, we were meeting in Europe for a long-awaited, well-deserved, two-week vacation when I found myself one of the unemployed. Many of my friends and coworkers asked, "Will you still go on vacation?" I answered, "I am not going to cancel this trip. I haven't seen my husband in two months. He has been working in harsh conditions and desperately needs a break. I will find another job, and if I don't go on this vacation, I'm sure I'll regret it someday!" People thought I was crazy, but I am happy to say that we had a wonderful time (even during France's truckers' strike and my unemployment). I not only found another job; I discovered a new career. Things happen for a reason. You may not always know what it is, but if you are patient and maintain a positive attitude, things work out for the best.

My career in the petroleum industry taught me to be versatile and flexible. After returning from vacation, I evaluated my skills by taking several aptitude tests and researching careers and reading books. I highly recommend the book, "Finding Your Perfect Work: The New Career Guide to Making a Living, Creating a Life" by Paul and Sarah Edwards. I still review certain passages occasionally to motivate me to find more satisfying contracts. In fact, I recently noticed that our September speaker, Marilyn Ross, is profiled in this book.

I discovered that I enjoyed writing about technical topics. After all, it was a major part of my job for 16 years. I then analyzed careers with the potential to earn a respectable salary and decided to go back to school. I enrolled in Metropolitan State College's Technical Communication degree program, choosing an emphasis in technical writing and editing. I joined STC as a student member and am still involved today. Since graduating, I have worked as a senior technical writer for three firms and managed an intranet at a major environmental engineering firm. I am now an independent consultant working part-time from home. The freedom allows me to pursue my passions and hobbies that are unrelated to my professional career.

Lisa Stevens

I had done many other types of writing in the previous years, such as newspaper, newsletter, brochure, and magazine writing. A friend figured I could probably write technical documentation, too, so she offered me a job.

Philip M. von Hake

For all I know, I may have been pre-disposed to the field of (technical) communication since a fairly early age. Throughout my school years, I always seemed to spend more time on term papers and similar writing projects than I did on any tests or other assignments. I earned my bachelor's degree in Information Systems from CU, thinking I'd eventually become a Systems Analyst. I also had a jack-of-all-trades job at a small software company in Boulder. We all soon realized that I couldn't do software programming, even if my life depended on it! Luckily, though, they did need somebody to write the user manual. That was 1987, and I've always found at least some work doing that ever since.

While the vast majority of my work has been with software documentation, I've spent most of the last two years or so trying to position myself as more of "full-service Communications Consultant" (i.e., Web design, marketing communication, public relations). Similarly, I've tried to move beyond the information technology field into what I call sustainability or green-future issues: energy, land use, transportation, waste management, green building, water issues, etc.

Today, while most of my bread and butter is still coming from software documentation, I envision a near-term future in which PvH Communications will be a full-fledged, full-time venture, working on "a message to help clear the air!"

Rodger Ward

I started writing documentation out of necessity. Working as a product manager for a communications equipment manufacturer, managing special assemblies that fell outside of the company's standard, PBX and data transmission products, I wrote rudimentary installation and user documents simply because my clients needed the documentation and existing company resources could not fulfill the need. When a layoff eliminated my job, I investigated writing positions in the Documentation and Education Departments, but without success.

To help decide what to do next with my career, I took an interest assessment at a nearby community college and subsequently enrolled in a series of courses to get a feel for several new employment directions. Desktop publishing seemed like fun, hazardous materials offered robust employment growth but seemed terribly dry, but technical writing felt like putting on an old, comfortable, flannel shirt.

Foraging for a writing job, with my limited documentation credentials, was a disappointing experience even in flush employment times. One individual from my class found a position through a job-study program and another individual negotiated an editing position through a haz-mat instructor. I accepted a $10 per hour desktop publishing job at a small translation firm, hoping that I could find writing opportunities with one or more of the company's software translation clients; a real back-door approach, for sure. Persisting in that position for two years, and moving through several positions, my hopes came true with a small contract from Hewlett-Packard. One success built on another with HP and contributed quickly to my steep learning curve, experience, and ability to compete successfully for new positions in technical communication.

It's interesting that when I reminisced briefly through these experiences, I could still feel both the fear from unemployment and the "…old, comfortable, flannel shirt" sensations again.

Mark Werner

I came into the technical communication field by becoming involved in an undergraduate engineering magazine at the University of Minnesota. I started out in electrical engineering as an undergraduate, but after a few quarters, I learned that engineering wasn't for me. At the same time, I had been volunteering at the magazine, and I told the staff there that I was looking for a different area of study. A few of the staff members there knew of Minnesota's technical communication program, and they recommended that I look into it. I tried out a few of their classes there and loved them. So I ended up changing my major to technical communication. I continued with the magazine and became its editor-in-chief. In the last two years of my studies, I landed summer internships with IBM, which naturally transitioned into a full-time job for them in their Information Development group as an information editor.

Kristi K. White

In the late 1980s, I was eager to break out of a sales support career in the office furniture industry. After 18 years managing large projects, I was burned out and ready for a change. I knew I didn't want to continue doing this job for the rest of my life, but had no idea what I would do next.

At the suggestion of a close friend, I began seeing a career counselor and exploring my talents and desires. She, along with several of my colleagues, told me I was a good writer. I had always enjoyed writing and language, but it had never occurred to me that I might actually get paid for doing it. The career counselor knew of a local company that sometimes hired technical writers on a contract basis and suggested I give that company a call. Although they didn't need anyone immediately, they did call me back within a few months to arrange an interview. There was nothing on my resume that said I could write or that I could do this job. Throughout the initial interview I sensed the employer's skepticism. At the end of the interview, I asked if there were anything I could do to demonstrate my skills. The interviewer said that yes, I could write up a summary of the interview and mail it to him. I ran down to my car and scribbled some fast notes on everything I could remember. The next day I wrote it up in longhand and mailed it to him. The result: a second interview.

My then-future boss told me that my summary demonstrated that I was a good listener. Other managers said that it showed I could put two sentences together and put the period in the right place. After a third interview, they made me an offer of contract employment, which I accepted immediately. (It is important to note that, to make a career change, I went from making $36,000 a year to making $12 an hour. I filed for bankruptcy later that same year.) Within three months, the company put me on permanent status with a starting salary of $27,500 (in 1990).

As a developer of training materials and operating procedures for the petrochemical industry, I learned so much and identified skills that I didn't know I'd had. For example, I learned I was good at interviewing people, making them feel at ease and drawing information out of their heads. I gained a great deal of self-confidence, thinking that, "If I can learn this, what else might I be capable of?"

This first job in technical communication was the beginning of a lucrative, new 12-year career. After five years in the petrochemical arena, I switched to software, which of course is where most of the tech writing jobs are. Virtually all of the tools I use I've learned through practical, on-the-job experience, coupled with a few workshops.

Laid off from a software company in January of 2002, I was unemployed for a year and eventually accepted a much lower-paying position as an administrative assistant for a non-profit organization. It's always good to have a variety of skills and experience to fall back on!