See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications
This is a great article that I first saw posted via Technical Writing Word on Google +. The author talks about a problem that many technical writers have as we move from position to position and job to job–and that’s having to revitalize skills that you’ve used in the past, but have not used in a long time. I know this is DEFINITELY an issue that I’ve had–and will probably continue to have as I establish myself as a technical communicator.
One of the caveats the author mentions is to not try to revitalize too many of those skills at once. I know I’ve definitely fallen victim to that. When one is on an intense job hunt, a prospective employee wants to be all things to all people as much as possible. These job hunters find themselves overwhelmed by the prospective of reigniting some of these skills, or firing up new ones related to the old or current ones, because demands by prospective employers are so high. Employers today want to have someone be able to jump in and run with a project immediately without any learning curve, and in so many instances, that seems to be asking for too much.
It also doesn’t allow capable people who might be the best for the job to have an opportunity to show their worth simply because they are not versed or very proficient in a specific type of software. I know that what actually worked for me in my current job was the fact that I knew many "custom" CMS systems, because the client’s CMS was custom–I just had to understand the foundations of how a CMS worked, and within 2 weeks, I had mastered the CMS to do my job. I even know a few tricks that my trainer didn’t know now. Will I find another opportunity like that? Not from the way I’ve read some local adverts.
This is an excellent article to read for both prospective employees and employers.
–techcommgeekmom
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TechCommGeekMom 