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Elaine Garnet writes:
> I so agree with the sell-by date. Mine apparently expired many years
> ago despite my technological aptitude. I am finding that companies are
> hiring candidates fresh out of university and training them for the
> job. These young ones will work long hours for dirt cheap wages. How
> can you compete with that if you have 10 years experience doing that
> job successfully and are a mature candidate?
[Stephen Arrants] I encountered this when I lived and worked in
California. What I did was position/sell myself as a fixer. The company
may have gotten a manual out of a "technical writer" for $13/hour, but
after they either couldn't use it, couldn't understand it, or had a
ginourmous increase in support calls they hired me. And I got more than
$13 an hour.
I've survived recessions, reorganization, downsizing, rightsizings,
repositionings, and crashes. I still write. I still edit. I still
provide UX consultations. If a low rate was all that was available, I
took a job at WALMART or Wolff's coffee rather than work somewhere for
just over minimum wage. That was my decision, I don't expect it to be
yours. And I'm not going to tell you that you're denigrating the
"profession" or hurting anyone. You do what you need to do to survive
another day.
Steve Arrants
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