Re: Aging out was RE: job-hunt weirdness

Subject: Re: Aging out was RE: job-hunt weirdness
From: voxwoman <voxwoman -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: Sarah Stegall <sstegall -at- bivio -dot- net>
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:32:01 -0400

On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 7:55 PM, Sarah Stegall <sstegall -at- bivio -dot- net> wrote:

> Amen to that, Gene. To some managers, a tech writer over forty who has
> never been a manager spells "loser".
>
> I don't like managing people. I'm no good at it. I like sitting in my
> cubby working on documents, or interviewing my SMEs, or talking to
> translators on the phone. I like the challenge of a new suite of
> documents, or learning new tools (YAY). I even like meetings. But
> hiring/firing people, mediating disputes, or managing a budget? No, no
> and hell no.


Then working solo as a freelancer may not be for you, either. There are
plenty of freelancers or small business owners that don't have employees,
but if you are running your own business and don't have a budget, I think
you are going to find yourself in trouble eventually. The "mediating
disputes" translates nicely into "discussing your invoice with accounts
payable," so the freelance route does require some managerial skills. The
one thing I've noticed that it avoids are the interminable meetings with
other managers to discuss status.

I have also found that it's a lot easier (and cheaper!) getting health
insurance if your company has another employee besides yourself.

I've been project lead more than once, which isn't exactly managing, but I
was "in charge" of people. The one project meeting that I had to attend
worked out really well for me - because those other managers have helped me
get hired in at least 3 other jobs. It's vitally important to become "known"
to as many development managers as you can, and as they scatter to the winds
after industry reversals and downsizings, they will remember what good work
you did, and bring you on board at their new job.

-Wendy


>
> So what's the career path for someone who found her comfort zone fifteen
> years ago and now just wants to hone her skills/toolset? I'm not lazy by
> any means, I just don't want to "move up", which usually translates as
> "move into management". I've been forced into "lateral" moves, i.e.,
> taking on some other role such as multimedia producer. I keep coming
> back to tech writing because I like it. I'm good at it.
>
> To enlarge this discussion, I think the perception that a career must be
> always and forever "onward and upward" is a major flaw in American
> managerial thinking. I know several engineers and programmers who would
> prefer to quit and find another job rather than move into management.
> They got into their field because they like doing engineering or
> programming or whatever. To take them away from that and force them to
> do jobs they aren't trained for, don't like, and aren't very good at is
> stupid.
>
> Sarah
> Often wrong, but never in doubt
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+sstegall=bivio -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+sstegall <techwr-l-bounces%2Bsstegall>=bivio.net@
> lists.techwr-l.com] On
> Behalf Of Gene Kim-Eng
> Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 3:37 PM
> To: TECHWR-L Writing
> Subject: Re: Aging out was RE: job-hunt weirdness
>
> It probably varies with the position and level of responsibility.
>
> I think there is a common perception that professionals should "advance
> abd grow" as time passes, which results in people looking at an older
> person in a non-senior individual contributor role and wondering "what's
>
> wrong" with that person's ability and/or drive. The higher up the
> seniority ladder you are and the more apparent it is that you have
> achieved progressively higher levels of responsibility and expertise
> over time, the older you can be before that perception begins to set in.
>
> Gene Kim-Eng
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
> Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
> 2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
> http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
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> Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
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Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

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References:
Re: job-hunt weirdness: From: Erik Hare
RE: job-hunt weirdness: From: Dana Worley
Re: job-hunt weirdness: From: Peter Neilson
Re: job-hunt weirdness: From: Dana Worley
RE: job-hunt weirdness: From: McLauchlan, Kevin
Aging out was RE: job-hunt weirdness: From: Sarah Stegall
RE: Aging out was RE: job-hunt weirdness: From: Leonard C. Porrello
Re: Aging out was RE: job-hunt weirdness: From: Gene Kim-Eng
RE: Aging out was RE: job-hunt weirdness: From: Sarah Stegall

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