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I have thoughts, but sometimes my line of reasoning can take a turn to the unusual. As far as the "telecommuting Technical Writer" is concerned, companies, in my experience, are very opposed to the idea. I have been pitched contracts and the recruiter will clearly state that there is no telecommuting when I never suggest that I want to discuss the subject.
I think that a lot of what is happening here, is that many employers are still feeling the burn of the dot-com fiasco where employees would "work" from home and get paid well for it. Employers either discovered or heard rumors that no work was completed, so now managers want to watch people to make sure that they are actually working. I had a contract where I was specifically required to review a contractor's documentation to verify that another contractor actually produced a decent product. So I think that telecommuting is rather frowned upon because telecommuters cannot be micro-managed.
I think a better approach for how to work from home is to think link like an outsourcee. India handles a lot of outsourcing needs and they do not work on-site for the companies that they support in other countries. Outsourcers look to companies that can satisfy their needs without on-site management, e.g.: http://www.outsourceyourlife.com/archives/2005_04.html. Since you have your own company, you might want to set yourself up as an outsourcee and present yourself as a self-managed company rather than a high-risk telecommuter.
Gaining success in the field outsourcing would require you to follow the path of the outsourcer, see where they get their work, and call that your competition. Business requires beating the competition. Once you know who outsourcers are looking for, then you can be that "source." Whether or not you telecommute, will depend on how you want to manage yourself. You will also have the marketing advantage of saying that an outsourcer that uses your services is supporting a US company.
Lauren
________________________________
From: techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com on behalf of Poshedly, Ken
Sent: Thu 1/11/2007 8:01 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Securing long-distance contract assignments
Hey Gang!
To follow up on Geoff Hart's comments about working from home, I would
LOVE to work from home, but no matter how much business talks-the-talk,
they refuse to walk-the-walk (to lift an overused phrase from the
asinine O.J. Simpson trail of the 1990s).
So how does one secure an at-home tech writing contract job for a client
far too far to actually meet with? Occasional visits onsite at client's
expense are just fine, though.
With a wife securely entrenched in her job with 19 years as a
transportation engineer at a firm here in metro Atlanta (a great thing
to be in this city!), and two middle-school-age kids in a pretty good
school district (very uncommon for this state), relocation is not an
option.
I myself have over 22 years documenting everything from computer
accessories (2 years), to factory equipment (12 years), to heavy
earth-moving equipment & forklift trucks (7 years), to cement
manufacturing plant design and startup (now over just 1 year). Plus 10
years before that in other journalistic positions.)
At my age (57, which we covered in previous posts late last year), it's
harder to secure fulltime permanent employment, and I have to admit that
I like what I do (contract tech writing).
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