Thanks to Scott Pierce for sharing this on Facebook. I understand how this author feels. While I’m not sure that I felt that my vocation was to be a writer, I knew that I always felt I had something to say, and just want to be heard. Technical writers especially feel this pain. We often half-jokingly talk about our profession being one in which nobody–or very few–read what we write. I think the digital age and the way digital marketing works had changed that a bit, but it’s still not completely off course. We write because there is a need to do it, whether it’s from an external or internal means. We do it to celebrate the ability to communicate. What do you think? Include your comments below. –TechCommGeekMom
This is a worthwhile article to read about the state of employment in general. This applies to technical communications and just about every field out there. I’ve had enough issues as a 40-something year old as it is, and as I step a little closer to my 50s, to read this is disheartening. It does seem that many companies, while trying to bring in new talent by way of university graduates and such, also don’t allow for second-career types like myself. In a manner of speaking, I’m still a relatively new graduate, having graduated from grad school just under 4 years ago, and employed for 3 of those last 4 years. I think the problem lies that employers want younger employees because they can get the internships to learn (I can’t get that now), and they are CHEAP. Much cheaper than someone who is a little more experienced in several aspects of a given field. When did the value of experience go down? It’s confusing to be out there looking for something now. If you don’t have experience, an employer doesn’t want you, but if you have the experience, the employers aren’t willing to pay what your experience is worth.
What do my fellow 40-something and 50-something year old (and anyone a couple years older than that 😉 ) think about this article? Do you agree with the assessment? Include your comments below.
Rey and BB-8 are trying to find their way, too, in 2016.
While I’ve reviewed what’s happened in 2015 in my recent posts, it’s time for me to look ahead, and see what I need to plan for this year.
I admit that last year, I had big plans. I knew that I wanted to sample some new conferences so that I could have some new experiences and meet new people. I also knew that I wanted to try to launch my own consulting company. Additionally, I knew I needed to learn something new to enhance my skills. I achieved all these goals on some level, so that’s good. However, it’s more difficult this year. If last year was a transitional year, this seems to be more of a transitional year than before. Last year, I had some direction on what I wanted–and needed–to do. This year, I really don’t know where to go, and that’s problematic.
While I earned a mini-MBA in digital marketing last year, I don’t feel strong enough to take on a content marketing job. I could certainly try, but most of the job listings need someone with a stronger marketing background than a digital background. While I understand marketing concepts, my experience fails me on that front. I’m open to taking more coursework in something to enhance my job seeking opportunities, but…in what? Two avenues that I’ve considered is learning more about Agile/Scrum, and the other is looking at getting a certificate in localization practices. I think both would be beneficial, and are things that I’m interested in, but I don’t know how much they would actually help me in the job market where I’m at. I’ve thought about getting some coursework in project management–which is what originally brought me into the IT world almost 20 years ago. Project Management has morphed quite a bit since that time. I’ve also thought about learning more about either WordPress or AEM development, which I think would be good, but I’m not sure where to find the right education for that, or know if I’m up to it, since I’m not really a developer. I’m not sure if any of these are the right direction, either.
I launched my company, but I’ve hardly gotten it off the ground. Part of the problem is that I know I need to focus on what I’m best at, and figure out what I can offer that other consultants can’t. I’m not sure what that is quite yet. I think I have a lot to offer, but honing into what makes me special, unique, and valuable to a client is much harder to define, especially when you are trying to figure it out about yourself. I also need to figure out how to find clients–that’s important, too! If I can get that off the ground more, I’d love that. I’m open to any part-time or full-time projects–even being the sub-contractor for someone else. I’m very open to remote possibilities. I don’t know where the opportunities lie. I know they are out there, but I don’t know how to tap into it.
I’d like to continue trying out new conferences, and perhaps go back to some that I’ve already attended in the past. I’m already set to attend the STC Summit this year, as I’ll be a workshop speaker. I’ll also be attending the STC-PMC Conduit conference–for the first time strictly as an attendee, and not a speaker! But other conferences? A lot of it has to do with time and money. Money is something I don’t have a lot of, and time–well, I don’t know what my time is going to look like a few months from now, let alone later this year. Perhaps I’ll go to the IEEE ProComm which will be in Austin, Texas in the Fall. I’m not sure yet. I thought about going to the Big Design conference in Quito, Ecuador (I heard it’s going to be great, and an opportunity for me to visit cousins-in-law at the same time), but it’s very close to the STC Summit, so I don’t know if I can swing two conferences so close to each other time-wise or financially.
I think the biggest issue, as you can sense here, is that I feel direction-less. It’s almost a dilemma between having too many choices and not enough choices. It’s one of those times that I wish I was a kid again, and someone could see through the clouds better than I could, and help point me in the right direction. But alas, I don’t have such a luxury. I have to figure this out for myself.
You can see that I have ideas, and I’m open to suggestions, but there are too many unknown factors this year that prevent me from committing to anything right now. I don’t know what direction my career is going in right now. Last year was the year that I thought I would turn things around and start in a new direction, and it would be a clear path. I think I had some good ideas last year–and they were, and I could try to continue with them, but I’m not sure how to do that.
So where do I go from this point? As I said, I’m certainly open to suggestions or leads. I have a concept in my head of where I want to go, what I want to do, but I don’t know how to get there. There are no Google Maps to take me there. If you have felt like you didn’t have any direction in your career before proceeding towards next steps, what did you to break out of that rut?
Include your comments below, as I’d really like to hear about some ideas that might benefit me, but could also help others who are facing the same dilemma as I am.
General Leia says, “Don’t worry, kid. You’ll figure it out. The Force is strong with you, Padawan.”
This is not to say I’m not optimistic about this year. I will say that over the past several years, I’m glad that I’ve built a great support network professionally around me who can certainly lift me when I’m down, and I’m grateful for that. Also, who’s to say that I have to set out any goals right now? When I decided to lose weight and get healthy, I didn’t make the plan in January, but rather in May or June of that year. Who’s to say that I won’t have this figured out a little better in a few months? Time will tell, but for now, I’m hoping the Force will provide me with some direction….
If tech is supposed to be an example of how great our futures could be, then its industry should also reflect that. But it doesn’t. And this is why it fails.
This is discouraging to read. I’d like to think that as technical communicators, we can–and do–better that that. Am I naive to think so? What are your thoughts of this article? Include your comments below. –TechCommGeekMom
Britain and the US share a common language – but English is spoken and spelled very differently on either side of the Atlantic. James Harbeck finds out why.
The question could also be asked, why aren’t Canadian English, Indian English, South African English and Australian English considered "languages"? This article makes a fair argument as to why none of these are separate languages.
TechCommGeekMom 
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