I don't believe I ever properly introduced myself, but that's the way I like it. Sneak in the back door and head for the snack tray - grin.
I have a BS in biology and Technical Writing Certificate from Penn State. I also have an MA in English from Wright State University in Ohio. I spent summers working as a proofreader and blueline proofer. After getting out of college in 1983, I got a job proofreading. I tired of that in a few years and went back to school. I graduated from Wright State in 1989 and got married in 1991. We met at the school's newspaper, where she worked as a typesetter. I was their copy editor, proofreader, and one of their staff writers. I sense a theme here. I worked for awhile The Cincinnati Downtowner as its sole copy editor, but left when I realized I could not afford to get married if I worked there! We moved east and lived with my parents for a few years. Boy was that fun. After the inquisition ended, we moved into our own small townhouse. We're still there today. We still haven't found the cat yet. I worked at a tiny online database company doing data entry starting in 1993, and moved up the ladder to database programming, but got paid as data entry. They were a bit tight-fisted with money. For awhile, I was their only database programmer. Everyone wanted to write glamorous marketing materials. No one wanted to write code. This was back when you wrote your own HTML by hand. No application did it for you. I eventually switched companies, and was happy at the new place until the Internet Bubble burst. Lots of heads rolled, mine included. A long dry year passed, during which both the death of the Web and tech itself were gravely intoned by misinformed pundits. I found myself back AT the tiny database company, which was still in business, but not for long. Fortunately, I was working FOR another company by then. When my project finished up, an opportunity to switch careers into technical writing at another company came knocking, and I opened the door. I had tried several times to break into technical writing, but somehow never quite made it. [Shakes head.] This time I did, in about three days. Interview on day one. Phone offer on day two. Email offer on day three. I was in. I recently celebrated one whole year as a real technical writer. I have several projects to my credit now. One of the three top guys, the one who interviewed and hired me, recently told me he had seen some of my documentation said it looked great. Yippee! I also help the janitor with the Swiffer Mop when I'm in early enough. No job is too small. The weird thing is, I believe the ten years I spent as a web-database programmer made me a technical writer than I would have been otherwise. So, not too many regrets. Craig Cardimon Technical Writer Marketing Systems Group [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
