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--- Dee Dee Oakey <oakeyd -at- roanoke -dot- cc -dot- nc -dot- us> wrote:
> Good Morning All,
>
> I agree with Bruce and Christine--experience doesn't equal skill. Although
> I'm a relatively new TW (or should I say technical communicator). I
> graduated with my master's in technical & professional communication in
> December. I know that many of the jobs I would be interested in requires
> more experience than I have now.
You know, a lot of newly minted TW's (or technical communicators, if you
prefer) don't apply for some jobs because they lack the experience the hiring
folks say they want. I think it's useful to keep in mind that experience
requirements are seldom cast in stone, mostly because it isn't easy to find
that 'perfect' fit of skills, experience, and cost. Sometimes, especially if
the need is greatest, the hiring folks will take two out of three.
I wouldn't expect to get the same pay as someone with the requested experience
level, but you can be successful interviewing for jobs where you lack some of
the requirements. It really will depend on what the hiring folks think are the
key requirements, as opposed to those they think are nice to have.
Basic rule: It never hurts to try.
> The information found on this listserv
> through its members' many, and oftentimes delightful, discussions serves to
> remind me just how much about this field I don't know.
Dee Dee, you're not alone in this. The population of this list is sufficiently
large and the work we do sufficiently diverse, that not everybody knows
everything about everything. Or needs to. (Even Andrew, though I realize that
may be heresy <g>).
> A lot of what is said
> goes straight over my head. However, I am striving to gain as much
> experience as I can in my current position. I know until I get this
> experience, my chances of getting different, better employment are few.
As I said above, sometimes, when you see a really interesting job, it never
hurts to try for it, even if you think your chances are slim. For one thing,
keeping your interviewing skills honed is not a bad thing. For another, until
you talk to those with a position to fill, you won't always know how important
experience or even certain skills are to them or how much trouble they're
having filling the position when asking for the skill/tool/experience/salary
mix they're specifying.
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