Hi Ali, My 2 cents as a hiring manager. . .
Evaluate the positions on a few different things. Which position jazzes you the most. To transition into the role you eventually want you need to also show that you are a good employee, hard worker, fast learner, dedicated etc. An education in UCD isn't enough for an internal transfer, and it is hard to show off all of your other skills in a position you hate. If neither position excites you -- wait for a better one if you can afford to financially. Which position do you think you can do a better job at. Showing competence in one area breeds confidence in a hiring manager that you can be competent in another. Also there may be opportunities in both positions to work with the Interaction Design team -- but that will require the permission of your current manager. You are more likely to get that permission if you are a valued employee. Which position will let you learn the most. If you could use a stronger background in the technical side -- a test position might help you build those skills. If you could use some work on written communication skills, tech writing will let you work on that. (Yah, I realize this could contradict my previous point). Which position would give you more opportunities to work with the Interaction Design team? For example, I often use tech writers as note takers in usability tests -- they tend to be very detail oriented, they think procedurally AND they tend to take really good notes because they have had practice interviewing SMEs. I also like to run design ideas past a few people in the QA team because they tend to be concerned about edge cases and where things will fail -- some can spot a design flaw or oversight a mile away. So in short evaluate what you can bring to the positions as well as what the positions can give to you. I would hire someone from either position. UCD skills would count in the decision, but so would work ethic, reputation and the additional skills the person would bring to the design team. I do have a bias though -- I started my career as a tech writer. Heather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35392 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
