Documentation: Give it up; it won't happen.

Tom seems to expand his personal experiences into indictments of the entire world. His last book didn't immediately sell a meelyun copies, so Linux sysadmin books are dead. Dice and Monster didn't deliver him a satisfying, well-paid technical writing career, so technical writing is dead. I think, though he says both "Documentation: Give it up; it won't happen" and "The heyday for technical writing specialists has arrived and a shortage exists." ??? So, is he saying there a demand for good writers and good documentation or not? (One might surmise that the demand for writers who make sense is greater than the demand for writers who don't.)

If I were to extrapolate from my experiences, the answer is "heck yes!" I get offered more work than I can handle. So I could apply the same logic and say "everyone should be a technical writer, especially in the Linux networking and system administration realms!" I would also say that Dice and Monster are wastes of time.

It is true that programming books do better, probably because programming is not something you can find your own way in, but need structured learning and detailed references.

Quoting:I would also say that Dice and Monster are wastes of time.

I would agree, I was recently looking for a new gig and had/have my resume on Dice, Monster and half a dozen other job sites as well. It was craigslist that came through for me. I am still looking but I found something that will more than pay the bills for the time being.

I would agree that many tech writing jobs are really documentation jobs in hiding but not all. There are a ton of tech writing jobs out there. As for whether or not the pay being offered is worth it or not? That's crying over spilled milk, does anyone get paid what they are worth these days?

>That's crying over spilled milk, does anyone get paid what they are worth these days?

.Net programmers, and then some.

ok Dino, so that does that mean they get high salaries, low salaries, or should be grateful to get paid at all? :)

TC -

Good point.

It's accurate to say they should live in mortal fear of ever being paid what they're worth -- kind of like managers.

Quoting:I would also say that Dice and Monster are wastes of time.

concur. I've never gotten any work through either of those outfits. And I've had plenty of work.

dino.... >...does anyone get paid what they are worth these days?

Yeah, I am getting nothing and I am doing nothing. Just what I am worth!

I've never put my resume on Monster or Dice. In fact, I've never gotten work with a resume...it was always an afterthought "for their records". Going to Monster or Dice is like sleeping with everyone in town looking for a spouse. I have too much dignity to post there.

Now craigslist...there you go. I've found outstanding talent on craigslist (via replies to my ads, not posted resumes), and a gig or two to get me by.

In my experience nothing comes close to personal referrals. Every job I've had in the past 25 years has been through personal referral. NEVER go through HR to try to get a job. HR should be nothing more than administrative paperwork AFTER you are hired. If you are going through HR to try to get an interview then you are a masochist.

If you don't know how to get along with people and let them know who you are and what you do then you are really just rolling the Dice.

Quoting: If you don't know how to get along with people and let them know who you are and what you do then you are really just rolling the Dice.

Nice pun. BTW It sounds like you know your way around the employment game.

Quoting:If you are going through HR to try to get an interview then you are a masochist.

Indeed, they wouldn't know if you were qualified or not. I gotten jobs through HR that I was under qualified for, and missed out on jobs I was highly qualified for. From the other perspective They've sent me people I wouldn't hire in a pink fit.