Thriving in the Oncoming Lane: Creating Fulfilling Work in the High-Tech Industry

This presentation was originally delivered to the STC Region 8 Conference in Costa Mesa, CA, in 1996. It has recently been updated for the Post-Internet Boom era. The information offered here complements much of the content available in Synergistech's site's Advice section.

My goal

I hope our discussion can help you:

• prepare for a job change
• determine what you want
• explore your alternatives
• rekindle your enthusiasm for the work you do
• make realistic and responsible choices

1. You have been working in computer software or hardware technical publications for at least five years.
2. You're tired of
   1. the pace
   2. the subject material, and/or
   3. the level of respect (or rather the lack thereof) accorded your efforts
3. You are interested in more rewarding, satisfying work within the same profession.
4. You have the will/time/money to be able to decline the first offer that comes along.

Preparing for a job change

Prerequisite choices

These are some of the choices you must make before you begin a job search.

1. Will I stay in this business because I can do the work, even though I might not want or like to? Am I foregoing what I want to do in favor of what I can or "should" do?
2. Is now the right time to be looking? Will short-term personal, political, emotional, and/or economic considerations compromise my determination to follow through, or my ultimate decision?
3. Am I looking for work simply to meet my needs (money, 'belonging', etc) or must it also meet my preferences (convenience, fun, status, etc)?
4. Am I willing to accept that I might have to create rather than find fulfilling work?

Recognize that nothing will change until you make these choices. Your choice — including the choice not to choose — has immeasurable impact on your future. This is not a game or a dress rehearsal.

Determining what you want

Reasons for wanting to change

Here are some common reasons for seeking to make a change:

1. Different responsibilities (more/fewer responsibilities, exposure to new tools/industries/technology/management or non-management perspectives, etc)
2. More money (and better benefits, bigger bonuses, more stock options, longer vacations, sabbaticals, matching 401k plan, etc)
3. More appreciation (more support from management, more autonomy, fewer critics)
4. Less struggle (fewer political minefields, shorter commute, fewer hours, less insensitive management, telecommuting, flex-time, etc)
5. Variety
6. A more ethical or humane work environment that's aligned with your personal values
7. Stability of a large company ("Downsizing is exhausting, and startups are usually disappointing.")
8. More profitable company with better morale
9. "Everyone here is so young and management expects us all to work insane hours."
10. "I need to escape my reputation, to start afresh...."

Reasons for not wanting to change

As you consider your motivations for changing jobs, also consider the following common reasons for not wanting to make the change:

1. "I like my [boss | location | peers | specialty | industry | benefits | stock options], etc." In other words, "I'm satisfied where I am."
2. Change is stressful. "I've got enough of what I need; why rock the boat?"
3. "There's too much uncertainty in my life already. I can't afford the threat to my cash flow, family responsibilities, etc."
4. "I've never heard of anyone who's done what I want to do. I'm not even sure it's possible."
5. "I never hear about opportunities for someone with my salary/seniority/responsibilities."
6. Loyalty (don't laugh)
7. "I don't want to have to prove myself again."

1. "I'm comfortable with my situation; at least it's predictable."
2. "I like 'belonging,' especially when the alternative is (potentially dangerous) change."
3. "If I got the job I say I want, I'd have proved that I could do it — and I'd be left with fewer excuses to avoid making the same kinds of changes in the rest of my life."
4. "If my peers saw me succeed, they'd hold me to a higher standard" or "My friends expect me to try and fail, and they'll be threatened if I disappoint them."
5. "The job I want is more of a fantasy than a realistic possibility, and deep down I know it."

If you suspect that you are actually getting more than you thought of what you really want, acknowledge that (to yourself) and consider aiming for a different goal. One danger of having too specific a goal is that you might not be flexible enough to recognize the right opportunity and make it work for you (instead of treating it as a compromise or defeat).

Exploring your alternatives

1. Staying put
2. Getting a more responsible technical communications job elsewhere
3. Becoming a contract technical communicator
4. Becoming a true consultant (one who advises and specifies the work but doesn't actually do it)
5. (for managers) Becoming a contract publications manager
6. (for managers) Becoming a technical writer again

1. Staying put

2. Getting a more responsible technical communications job elsewhere

3. Becoming a contract technical communicator

4. Becoming a true consultant (one who advises and specifies the work but doesn't actually do it)

5. (for managers) Becoming a contract technical communications manager

6. (for managers) Becoming an individual contributor again

Rekindle your enthusiasm for the work you do

Having made your preliminary choices and researched your alternatives, you're almost ready to make and implement a second series of choices (see 'Making realistic and responsible choices').

Before you do so, reflect for a moment on what is exciting and worthwhile about what you want to do. If you don't value yourself and your contribution, you can't expect those around you to do so.

Remember:

1. I am the bridge between the product's creator and its users.
2. I represent the user's interests to the development team.
3. I catalyze changes in the product to make it more effective and usable.
4. I am (one of) the first to learn about product changes, and the only one who can explain their significance to users.
5. I am a key member of the product team; without me, there is no product (especially true if you author online help).
6. I have mastered tools that others only think they can use.
7. I have proven my ability to learn quickly and synthesize relevant information for a specific audience.
8. I am the focal point of a vast amount of complex, dynamic information.
9. I write better than any engineer.
10. My knowledge of the product, and working relationship with the subject-matter experts, is valuable and not easily replaced.
11. Anyone who says they can do my job better than I do has never tried.

Making realistic and responsible choices

All the options discussed in Exploring your Alternatives involve tradeoffs.

There is no perfect solution for any given person or situation. Here, however, are some questions to ask yourself to gain focus on whether you've made the right decision for you.

With what you know now about the alternative you've chosen:

1. Will what you learn and achieve in the next six months improve your overall marketability?
2. Are you willing to commit all reasonable resources (personal, emotional, physical, financial, etc) to making your choice successful?
3. Do you know your boundaries (in terms of emotional, financial, and physical commitment, etc) and will you promise yourself to re-evaluate your choice if those boundaries are violated?
4. If a good friend were contemplating the same choice, what questions would you ask him or her? What concerns would you have regarding your friend's replies? Are you comfortable that 'your friend' is responding to all the evidence (internal and external)? Would you make the same choice? Put more simply, does it feel right?

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