Newsletter of the East Bay Chapter of STC
November/December 2004 | Home

Psst–Wanna Know a Secret?

by Joy Montgomery
EBSTC Nominating Committee Member

As we all know, this is a challenging time for technical writers or for anyone else who is looking for work. Your resume is one of hundreds wherever you send it. Employers want the skills of a half dozen people for the price of one. There is a way to get those skills when you don’t have room in the budget for training—VOLUNTEER! Volunteering can introduce you to new skills, new tools, and new contacts.

Scoop Up Those Skills

So, you’re not a Web designer and all the ads seem to require it. Maybe you have only technical writing and it seems as if you keep running into jobs that want someone who can do both technical and marketing documentation. An almost perfect job required samples of the newsletters you have worked on—VOLUNTEER!

Singing bawdy songs at the Veterans Administration Nursing Home in Livermore may lead to an interesting project for me. I volunteered to show my support for troops without supporting the war. What I offered to do was resumes. I found myself singing songs like “Roll Me Over in the Clover” for an appreciative audience. There are art classes there and I have volunteered to help with an idea that I had when I saw the artwork. I’m hoping that, along with a morale boost for the vets, I will have a project management success story for my resume.

Take Up Those Tools

PeopleSoft, Oracle, PageMaker, XML, HTML, Visio—don’t know ’em all? Think about what agencies might use those and roll up your sleeves. Every association and agency has a hard time finding people to help. They just might be a little patient while you learn—VOLUNTEER!

A member of another association that I’m in recruited inventory experts to help streamline procedures for Glide Memorial’s food bank. Some enterprising person might get some hands-on experience with inventory control software that they would not otherwise have a chance to include in their resume. Everyone involved will have a success story for a resume.

Corral Some New Contacts

Not great at networking? It’s easier when you are part of the group. What are you passionate about? What groups are important to you? Find out what they need help with. Look them up on the Internet. Go to a meeting and ask, “What opportunities are there for me to help?”—VOLUNTEER!

My youngest aunt started volunteering with the Special Olympics decades ago. She went from being a local volunteer to holding a paid state position as an advocate for the developmentally disabled. Even though she has been retired from it for years, she is still in touch with people whose lives she had a chance to change.

Resources

Here are some local opportunities for volunteering. Check them out and see what their needs are and how your needs and theirs might mesh. Look for others that suit you. But, before you go too far afield, check out the last one on the list. Opportunity knocks!

eBig.org
Tri-Valley Animal Rescue
VolunteerMatch
Volunteer Center of Alameda County
East Bay Chapter of STC

There is nothing wrong with improving your career while you do a good
deed.

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