Category: Uncategorized

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Sitting in a kitchen stocked with free food, a handful of 20-something Google summer interns weigh their favorite perks, but where to begin? With bikes, buses, massages, swimming pools, dance classes, nap pods, part…

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

This article actually infuriated me. Whatever happened to internships that you only earned college credit if you passed? I did one of those for a TV station during my senior year of college. I had to pay for the college credits, pay for my own transporation (50 miles away from my school), and pay for my own meals.  I received no monetary compensation, and it was supposed to help me get a foot into the media industry. We all know how that ended up. 

I can see why companies would want to provide some perks in order to retain these interns as future employees. I get that–it’s a marketing thing, in that respect. But these kids have better perks–and in some cases, compensation–than I’ve had, and I’ve GOT experience, unlike them. How is that fair? Whatever happened to the "poor college student" and "paying your dues" towards your career? 

I suppose that as a person who still feels like she is "paying (her) dues" at the age of 46, despite having a career and a graduate degree in hand, this seems grossly unfair. Yes, yes, I know the world isn’t fair. But really–what does a 20-22 year old need with a $60-80K salary, free food, and all those other perks? Why can’t I get a piece of that?

Internships are supposed for the purpose of learning, not getting paid high wages and all the "good things".  Employees have earned a spot to have those perks, but interns haven’t. 

I don’t know…reading this just made me feel ill. 😦

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

A Quora user answers the question: Is it too late to learn to code?

Source: mashable.com

Another article I found a while ago and am just posting now. I don’t know that I’d be looking to change careers, but it sure seems that with the surge of companies wanting tech writers who can write APIs, there is a big need for understanding programming languages. One of these days, I’ll get around to learning one of these languages, I hope. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

With tech jobs on the rise, these 10 programming languages are essential for aspiring developers.

Source: mashable.com

While this was published a while ago, I only found this recently, and thought it was something worth considering. I don’t know that I’ll ever be a programmer, but some of these are programming languages that perhaps even knowing a little bit can go a long way. I know my Javascript skills are lacking, and I could see how PHP or Ruby on Rails could be handy. Read this, and see what might be helpful for you. Resources on where to learn these languages are included in the article (online learning!). 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

This concept and the visual was taken from my new book which came out today called, The Future of Work: Attract New Talent, Build Better Leaders, and Create a Competitive Organization. One of the things I have been writing about and have tried to make clear over the past few months is […]

Source: www.forbes.com

A cousin-in-law of mine turned me on to this article. While it’s written generically, I could see how this easily applies to technical communication workers especially. Read it and comment below on what you think. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

I’m hearing people talk more and more about developing a reuse strategy. This is troubling. Reuse is a tactic at best. It is not a strategy. At least, it is not a good strategy. Content strategy ha…

Source: everypageispageone.com

One of the things I like about Mark Baker is that he’s not afraid to tell it like it is, and present some counter-thoughts to popular thinking in tech comm that makes a lot of sense. When I saw the headline to this article, I knew I had to read this, and I’m glad I did. One of the things that I have found difficult to apply in my content management position is the practice of reuse as dictated by many. Mark’s article supports what I’ve experienced–it can’t always be used as heavily as one would believe.

 

Read this, and tell me what you think about his assessment.

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications