Newsletter of the East Bay Chapter of STC
March/April 2004

President’s Message: A Different Career Path and STC

by Susan Harlan
EBSTC President

Last month, I encouraged everyone to renew his or her membership in STC. Realizing that lots of changes have taken place in the last year, I know that some people wonder if STC can really offer them what they need in a new career direction. Well, this month I want to write about the benefits of STC membership when your career direction has changed.

New Directions

This is a coming-out party, if you will, for me. I have to admit that I no longer have the title of Technical Writer. Actually, I gave that up last fall when I took a contract with PG&E as an Instructional Designer, a title I had been seeking for a long time. However, as things tend to happen in life, this contract came the week after I signed up for my first class in gerontology at San Francisco State University (SFSU).

Why gerontology? Well, because I’ve had only short-term contracts with so much time off the past three years, I became involved in volunteer activities. My volunteer activities went from writing a web page on senior programs to writing a grant for volunteers, to working in the coordinator’s role once that grant was funded. An introduction to a professor of gerontology at SFSU really opened the door. After all, I didn’t complete that online master’s degree in technical writing that Texas Tech offered. In fact, I never got around to applying for it, and the life-long goal of getting a master’s degree was still out there. So, why not? With good fortune and a supportive PG&E manager, I was able to start with one class during the day last semester.

When we had a lecture on “Gero-Technology,” this gerontology class really seemed to close the loop. After all, here we were, listening to a speaker talk about the need for changing web sites, fonts, computers, etc. for older adults who have special needs.

This semester brought lots of changes. I chose to go to school full-time and not continue the contract with PG&E. It was not an easy decision to make, but it fits me at this time, and I am very, very happy about what I’m doing.

Always a Writer

Is there no tech writing in my life now? I wrote a training manual using Information Mapping last month; I’ll write user procedures this week, a flyer, press releases for my internship position at a retirement agency, and a grant request for an agency that will include some work for me as project director or training consultant.

The list of writing assignments seems to be never-ending. I say “writing” instead of “technical writing” because the topics I’m writing about are not technical in the scientific sense. Lots of technical writers today are doing other types of writing while keeping the technical writer title. What’s the difference? Well, yes, the student pay rate is not quite the same, but the professional rates for a geriatric case manager, for example, are higher than most tech writer jobs I’ve known about.

The Value of STC

I’m not suggesting that you jump ship with technical writing. The skills you have learned in technical writing can be used with non-technical companies. And the East Bay Chapter of STC will welcome you and continue to offer networking and useful information. I’m telling you my story here, as one who has been a technical writer and is now following a different path, but still sees the merit of membership in STC.

Best Regards,
Susan

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