I am currently available for new full-time or contract employment as
a senior technical writer in the Washington, DC area or via
telecommuting.
Details of my experience are after the jump.
Continue reading "Are You Seeking a Senior Technical Writer in the Washington, DC Area?" »
The
thought passed my mind today after hearing about more than one low ball
technical writing contract off and on over the past few months is if
today's economy, corporate indecision, and skewed corporate perceptions
that the perfect senior person can be found for cheap is going to
further thin out the IT contracting firm herd.
I say this
because the bulk of most recruiters salary is paid on a commission
basis meaning they have to place people and the fact that some IT
contract openings have been open for months as employers get lost in
indecision, hand wringing, and a myriad of other issues I can only
pretend to understand.
Continue reading "Will Today's Economy Further Thin Out IT Contracting Firms?" »
There
is a whole lot of proposal writing going on in today's bad economy in
the commercial and Federal government sectors. This means technical
writers and other IT workers may get approached to have their resume
included in a proposal or to come in and interview for a contingent
project that the client or potential employer has not yet won.
Continue reading "Including your Resume in a Proposal or Interviewing for a Contingent Project" »
I've
had a chance to meet with some technical writers, hiring managers, and
potential clients over the past few weeks and the picture of the
technical writing profession remains as troubled as ever.
While
many senior technical writers are driven into contracting there is
still an insular technical writing community that has never taken such
risks. Personally, I think every technical writer needs to spend some
time as a W2 and independent contractor and publish original work to
expand their own horizons beyond just font fondling.
Continue reading "Five Things Technical Writers need to do at least Once" »
I am back to contracting and freelancing and trying to research how I can diversify my income streams. Back in the day, I spent a lot of my evenings as a computer book technical editor and reviewer.
Continue reading "Computer Book Technical Editing" »
I am currently available for new full-time or contract employment as a senior technical writer in the Washington, DC area or via telecommuting.
Details of my experience are after the jump.
Continue reading "Now Available for New Senior Technical Writer Opportunities" »
I recently had an interview for a contract that was so not a fit but one of the questions was Why do I stay a technical writer when it must be such a dull and boring profession? After the interview when I was peeling rubber out of the parking lot, I took a few moments when I was decelerating to think about some of the more interesting moments (at least to me) from my career to date:
Continue reading "Revisiting a Technical Writing and Contracting Career" »
I was
talking with an old colleague the other night and they wondered if I
missed freelance writing. In some ways, I really do miss freelancing
but considering where the economy is going it looks like I need to diversify my income again.
Freelance writing was
such a rich educational experience for me and contributed to the
professional I am today. While freelancing, I was exposed to leading
edge technologies and got to interview some really smart people.
Writing articles did wonders for honing my writing and analytical
skills.
Continue reading "Do I miss Freelance Writing?" »
I saw a lot of things as a contractor and consultant that really bothered me even some that left me wanting to take a shower
Continue reading "Things I didn't like about Contracting and Consulting" »
I hate meetings. There I said it. Once I even went to a meeting about meetings when I was on a previous contract
While there are times that I'll admit meetings are necessary, I've seen way to many hours burned by needless meetings. There are also personality types that seem to need meetings so they can feel valuable.
Continue reading "Kelly's Laws of Meetings" »
Working as an IT consultant and contractor can teach a lot of life lessons and illuminate a lot of truths into human nature. I've seen a lot working with commercial, Federal, non-profit, and non-governmental organizations.
Here are some of the truths I've learned over time:
Continue reading "Indelible Truthes Learned from IT Contracting & Consulting" »
Recently, when I was doing some online research for a client regarding database architecture documentation, I remembered an article I wrote for Builder.com on the subject way back when. When I entered www.builder.com into my browser I was viewing an Australian site.
I had long since archived the article I wrote for them to PDF because the multiple FT editorial staff purges but the shuttering of the American Builder.com site brought back some good and bad memories for me:
- When the tech bubble burst for me I hit the mat like an over the hill prize fighter on his last fight. Builder.com had an open call for writers at the time and I applied with the few clips I had from my professional writing career because I needed the money. I hadn't really written any articles since I was a college English major. I had to learn all over again how to express myself in hundreds of words versus the page count of a requirements document, functional specifications, operations guide, or user guide.
- Surviving multiple editorial changes on the Builder.com side until they got a new editor who offshored editorial content to India.
- Learning how to navigate PR agencies and talking to some really major players in the business both over the phone and in person.
- Some people not understanding how a technical writer could write original content in the form of an article. It only happened once or twice but the ridiculousness of it even today.
- Writing about soft skills like project management and navigating organizational politics for the first time in my career based upon my experiences as an IT contractor and consultant.
Continue reading "CNET Builder.com Off the Air (But not in Australia)" »
Mid-Tier Contractors Getting Left Out
(from Washingtonpost.com)
For many years, the middle tier of companies in the $200 billion
federal services industry was regarded as a source of innovation and
productivity. They grew into companies that today are big names in the
contracting space -- SRA, Alion, CACI and Mantech.
Despite a six-year boom in government contracting, the next generation
of mid-size players is seeing its share of federal dollars erode.
Larger companies increasingly dominate the service industry, which
helps the government run its computers, analyze intelligence, conduct
scientific research and even mop the floors.
Continue reading "Consolidation in the Federal IT Marketplace" »
Though I've been off the job market for a while I am starting to receive more and more unsolicited recruiters emails. Many times they are on target (though I am engaged and can't pursue the gig), but this one was off target...and a wee bit of a scary proposition (and I am not talking an impossible tech project in a completely dysfunctional Federal or commercial organization).
Continue reading "Scary Unsolicited Recruiter Email of the Day" »
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