April-May 2009 - Between the Lines

It's All About Jobs!

Here are three of the many faces of the Technical Communication job search in SWO. Read their stories: Marge Roberts, Craig Kupras, and Kristen Recupero. Check out their job-search strategies and share yours with all of us.

Shift your search for employment across different industries. Having an expertise in technical writing for just one industry is not going to be as valuable as having an expertise in the process of technical communication.
Learn to demonstrate how your experience in financial services, for example, will apply to healthcare or education service providers.
Don’t expect tech comm job listings to be published in your local newspaper, as research has shown more than 80 percent of all higher paying jobs are never listed.
Networking is not just recommended, it’s essential. STC and its resources will be a vital source for connecting with opportunities.
Add the local Chamber of Commerce meetings to your networking schedule (and other events where business professionals gather.

-- Richard O’Sullivan, STC Economist

Spring 2009

The Economy’s in the Toilet. Where are You?

Remember Ross Perot and the "giant sucking sound" he heard in 1992? It was, he said, the sound of thousands of American jobs, literally headed south.

Now it’s 2009, and the sucking sound is back. Disappearing jobs are sucking the vitality out of the global economy. And if your techcomm job is part of the downward spiral, it may be sucking the life out of you.

The STC-SWO job hunters featured in this issue haven’t let that happen to them. You can adopt their strategies.

Stay Busy

Like Kristen, polish your resume, apply at online job sites, and beef up your portfolio. And do something to further your job search every day.

Adjust Your Attitude

Like Marge, choose to be optimistic. Take advantage of your downtime to add to or brush up on your skills. Replace that "little discouragement bird" with a positively affirming phoenix and stay focused on your action plans.

Network, Network, Network

Remeber the networking directive in a previous BTL article (Networking for Introverts):

…[Looking for a job] but not doing any networking is a lot like expecting a made-to-order pizza to materialize at your door just because you’ve decided you want one; it’s possible, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a best practice.