Re: RoboHelp?? Programs? etc.

[Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>]

Hi Susan,

I left Silicon Valley, California in 1983 and spent nearly 20 years in 
Alaska, so I can understand your concern about being out of the field 
for extensive periods.  I was fortunate to work in a variety of fields 
{retail sales, video (scriptwriter, videographer, producer), print and 
broadcast journalism, photography, academia (research proposal 
development and academic support), and government (Help applications)} 
that allowed me to both broaden my experiences and stay current on our 
industry's tools.  However, what I found out was that learning new tools 
was not as important as understanding the many different aspects of 
technical writing.  For example, I took over a Help project that a 
previous writer was trying to create using only Word.  It was a mess.  
When I was offered the position, the web development/HTML experiences 
that I picked up running a computer sales/service organization (where I 
sold RoboHelp as one of our products) were an immense help in getting 
the job and bringing everything back on track. When I returned to 
"America" (what we called the Lower 48), I was able to use 15 years 
experience with PageMaker, Photoshop and CorelDraw, and a two day 
seminar on FrameMaker, to gain a position with Tivoli Systems.  However, 
it was my knowledge of how technical books and graphics are developed 
that really clinched the offer.  Today, I have a contract to developing 
documentation for microelectronic production systems (hardware and 
software) and I just completed developing training aids for a powerful 
software-based energy efficiency tool developed by the State of Vermont 
which is gaining use throughout the country.

So, regardless of how long you have been out of the field, if you have a 
good understanding of how to develop technical documentation, good 
writing/editing skills, and a lust for learning, you'll have no problem.

Al