Reinvent Yourself Through Career Change. Brian Lindgren, Jackie Damrau, Rachel Houghton Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Transcription

1 Reinvent Yourself Through Career Change Brian Lindgren, Jackie Damrau, Rachel Houghton Tuesday, May 17, 2016

2 May #stc16 1

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4 How Do You Define Yourself? So we can get a sense of who is attending this session, by a show of hands, how many of you consider yourselves: Technical writers? Technical editors? Web/html developers? Trainers? Content managers? Documentation specialists? May #stc16 3

5 Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been? Brian Lindgren First job as a technical communicator: Associate Editor Current job title: Program manager, Business Development Director How I see myself: Editor first, writer second Rachel Houghton First job as a technical Communicator: Technical Writer Current job title: Information Developer How I see myself: I feel like an "AuthorIT Wrangler, but definitely an Information Developer Jackie Damrau First job as a technical Communicator: Technical Writer Current job title: Sr. Business Systems Analyst How I see myself: A technical communicator that has wide exposure in modeling business processes May #stc16 4

6 Brian Lindgren PMP, Fellow, : Graphic artist/typesetter* 1984: Research Assistant for Editor & Publisher magazine : Typesetter/proofreader for multiple publications : Associate Editor of FLEXO, a printing industry trade magazine : Assistant Editor of Solid State Technology, a major semiconductor industry trade magazine : Editor of computer industry research reports and newsletters : Technical writer, IS manager, multimedia developer : Editor/publisher, entrepreneur, business owner : Technical writer : Proposal manager : Business development manager** : Project manager : (really, 2010 present) Business development director 2014 Present: Program manager and special projects manager *Also a freelance writer and artist for entertainment magazines from 1983 to ** No unemployment, but job ending prematurely led to a Project Manager position, which ultimately led to PMP certification May #stc16 5

7 Brian s Path to Fellow Entered college as an Architecture major, then transferred to Fine Arts after one semester First heard the term technical writer in a summer class prior to my Freshman year Signed up for the Technical Writing class second semester Joined newspaper staff second semester, my involvement as a writer/artist/production assistant made me realize I wanted a career in publishing The following summer the newspaper purchased its own typesetting equipment, which gave me hands on publication production experience That autumn, won first runner up in a technical writing contest; my submission was about pre press newspaper production May #stc16 6

8 Brian: Rags to Riches to Rags and Back 1983, after college, I started with a $4/hr job as a typesetter (minimum wage was $3.35/hr) in NY. By 1987 I transitioned to an associate editor of a magazine at nearly triple that amount; by 1994 I more than doubled that as a technical reports editor and had relocated from NY to SC. So in 11 years my salary increased by 612% and I was in a city with a much lower cost of living then was unexpectedly fired and my employer reneged on severance package. After two months of unemployment I accepted a position as a technical writer at a 46% reduction. While taking the job as a technical writer, also took on the responsibility of Information Systems manager and learned multimedia development with Macromedia Director. About 8 months into my employment there, successfully made a business case for them to publish research reports. In 1996 they spun off that division to me as a standalone company. I started my company as a publisher, but acquired multimedia software as part of the spin off and developed a niche business of short runs of CDs and was a hardware/ software reseller. Closed my business in 1998 and re entered the work force as technical writer for multimedia software CBTs. Eight months later was hired as a tech writer by a Government contractor, which led to proposal support, then ultimately business development and project management positions. May #stc16 7

9 Rachel Houghton, Fellow, : Copy editor at Portland State University's Daily Vanguard newspaper : Technical Writer, Sr Technical Writer (& lone writer) at Cypress Semiconductor : Contract Sr Technical Writer, Hollywood Entertainment (parent company, Hollywood Video stores) : Contract Sr Technical Writer, Columbia Sportswear : (6 months) Contract Sr Technical Writer, Oregon PERS : (6 months) Contract, Sr Technical Writer, Columbia Sportswear : Sr Technical Writer (employee), Kentrox : Unemployed, except for 4 months in : Sr Information Designer, Sage : 10 month self imposed sabbatical 2014 present: Information Developer (Technical Writer 3), Rockwell Automation Also doing USATF certified race course maps for races in Oregon and Washington since 2010, using Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat). May #stc16 8

10 Rachel Houghton s Journey Unemployment from August 2003 January 2004 could have changed the course of my career. At the end of this unemployment period, I was asked to use my technical writer skills to help the IT department of a local company deal with a Sarbanes Oxley audit. I'd never done policies and procedures before, but I ended up doing that for a year, for both the headquarters and a distribution center in the same city. My next job was doing the same thing for the PERS (Public Employees Retirement System) for 6 months. Probably the toughest job I ever had, because it was the end of the biennium and a strike was looming. No one wanted me to document how they did their jobs (or update their policies and procedures) because it could help someone non union do their job if they had to go on strike. As a contractor, I went back to the other company, and did more policies and procedures, this time for an OSHA 300 audit. By then, I realized I could probably successfully switch from software documentation to policies and procedures, but that policies and procedures were not my cup of tea. From this job, I went back to captive employment doing what I love: software documentation. Unemployment from November 2008 February I did have a 4 month contracting stint in this period doing software documentation. However, that contracting job led to me learning MadCap Flare, which helped in my next permanent job (where I helped convert multiple products from FrameMaker to Flare). In 2013, started a period of intended unemployment which ultimately led to the relocation from Oregon to Arizona. The new geographic location offered a lot more employment opportunities. May #stc16 9

11 Dr. Jackie A. Damrau, Fellow, Secretary 1977 Civil Service Clerk (Temporary) Insurance Clerk 1978 Legal Secretary Word Processor Technical Typist Phototypesetter 1981 Production Supervisor Office Manager/Security Supervisor Editorial Assistant III Administrative Assistant Publications Specialist Technical Writer Technical Writer II Proposal Writer Technical Writer Senior Technical Writer 1999 Curriculum Developer Team Lead, Learning & Development Senior Technical Writer Technical Writer II Knowledge Management Analyst Knowledge Management Analyst Senior Functional Analyst 2012 ARIS Trainer Business Process Management Analyst 2013 Present Senior Business Systems Analyst May #stc16 10

12 Risks with Retaining a Title In the position descriptions shown, Technical Writer I is almost identical to Technical Writer IV, except for the number of years experience. When an individual advances to TW IV, the requirement might still be satisfied by a TW I In the case of a contractor employee, where the hiring company has to compete for the position, cost becomes a major factor Government contractor positions are governed by labor category descriptions, and going beyond the requirement could run the risk of the contractor going out of scope, i.e., being non compliant While the contract requirements could change, formal modifications are often time consuming and the customer may not want to pursue that path Source of position descriptions: Modis, Inc. Salary Survey, 2015 May #stc16 11

13 What s In a Name? Documentation Specialist might sound like a higher rank than Technical Writer, but a Documentation Specialist III on average earns less than a Technical Writer III and there is no Documentation Specialist IV. Source: Modis, Inc. Salary Survey, 2015 May #stc16 12

14 A Possible Reinvention Compare the position descriptions between Technical Writer III and IV to Web Content Manager Source: Modis, Inc. Salary Survey, 2015 May #stc16 13

15 Possible Reinvention (cont.) The Content Manager salary is comparable to Technical Writer IV Source: Modis, Inc. Salary Survey, 2015 May #stc16 14

16 Possible Reinvention (cont.) If you are a Tech Writer III you may consider becoming a Content Manager, which does not necessarily require hands on content development. Working within that work group could lead to exposure to web content development tools (many by Adobe, and integrated with other products including Creative Suite) Growing those capabilities could lead to Content Engineer positions, which pay substantially more than comparable technical writer roles With DITA tools, RoboHelp, and other related programs overlapping many standard document software, this is a very feasible transition May #stc16 15

17 Follow Your Heart But Also the Money Expand your horizons as much as feasible within your current job See if your current skills are applicable to other position descriptions If time and management permit, assist other departments within the company Apply for jobs while you are employed, and reach outside your comfort zone If it s feasible to your situation, consider relocating Temporary Duty might be a viable option May #stc16 16

18 Relocation? This table, from the 2015 STC Salary Database, shows the fastest growing states for Technical Writers and Export and GDP Performance Source: STC Salary Database, 2015 May #stc16 17

19 Expand Your Employability Consider certifications that might be required for certain types of positions Certified Scrum Master (CSM) Project Management Professional (PMP) Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) and related software certifications Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) May #stc16 18

20 Background Research STC members can download the Salary Survey from the STC website Other salary surveys (Project Management Institute, Modis, Inc., etc.) Labor Category Descriptions Government agencies (e.g., Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) standard labor category descriptions) Technical recruiter/ headhunter agencies Job Boards Indeed.com, Monster.com, Beyond, etc. Going directly to company websites might be more viable Government/contractor sites: USAJOBS, Clearance Jobs (not all require a clearance) May #stc16 19

21 Sample Research These two tables, from the STC Salary Database Survey, show some of the top employers of technical writers and the top job gains for technical writers Source: STC Salary Database, 2015 May #stc16 20

22 Thank you! Brian Lindgren, PMP Charleston, Rachel Houghton Scottsdale, Dr. Jackie A. Damrau Plano, At this evening s Honors Reception, from 5:00 to 6:30 pm in the Grand Ballroom, Rachel will formally become a Fellow. Please congratulate her! May #stc16 21