FW: Career advice--which application to focus on: FM or Word?

[Owen, Clint]

Andy,

As some others have said, focus on the task rather than the tools. Having
zero FM experience didn't seem to hurt me when I was looking for a job 5
years ago, I was able to convince the interviewers that I could learn any
tool they wanted me to use.

Lack of programming experience, however, did close quite a few positions.
They all wanted technical writers with recent experience in a currently used
programming language. 20 year-old memories of college Fortran didn't help
much. If you can code as well as write, be sure to mention it.

Clint

-----Original Message-----
From: framers-bounces+clint.owen=craneaerospace.com at lists.frameusers.com
[mailto:framers-bounces+clint.owen=craneaerospace.com at lists.frameusers.c
om]On Behalf Of Andy Kelsall
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 7:40 AM
To: Framers at frameusers.com
Subject: Career advice--which application to focus on: FM or Word?


Hello everyone,

           I would like some advice from anyone who has worked in the
technical writing field for more than 3 years. My question is this:

          If you knew someone who was looking to enter the technical writing
field at this time, would you advise them to seek out positions where they
would be using FrameMaker, or would you tell them not to worry so much on
which application would be used, but instead focus on the position and the
work itself?

          The reason I ask is that on various listservs I subscribe to, it
seems that most people are big FM advocates and are not too fond of Word.
I've spent the last month trying to learn the basics of FM, and I can see
why people choose FM over Word when it comes to serious technical writing.
Granted, there is a steep learning curve, but it *is* a lot more versatile
than Word.

          I'm moving away from a 17 year career as a technician and engineer
in the telecom field and I want to make sure my first step into technical
writing isn't a misstep. As a quick note, I have given the career change
quite a bit of thought, and went as far as completing a technical writing
program at Duke. Any and all advice is appreciated.


Thanks,

Andy
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