Hi, Definitely focus on the "position and the work".
The tools change all the time and learning a particular bit of software is the easy part. -----Original Message----- From: framers-bounces+mark.levitt=betfair....@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces+mark.levitt=betfair.com at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Andy Kelsall Sent: 11 May 2006 16:40 To: Framers at frameusers.com Subject: Career advice--which application to focus on: FM or Word? Hello everyone, I would like some advice from anyone who has worked in the technical writing field for more than 3 years. My question is this: If you knew someone who was looking to enter the technical writing field at this time, would you advise them to seek out positions where they would be using FrameMaker, or would you tell them not to worry so much on which application would be used, but instead focus on the position and the work itself? The reason I ask is that on various listservs I subscribe to, it seems that most people are big FM advocates and are not too fond of Word. I've spent the last month trying to learn the basics of FM, and I can see why people choose FM over Word when it comes to serious technical writing. Granted, there is a steep learning curve, but it *is* a lot more versatile than Word. I'm moving away from a 17 year career as a technician and engineer in the telecom field and I want to make sure my first step into technical writing isn't a misstep. As a quick note, I have given the career change quite a bit of thought, and went as far as completing a technical writing program at Duke. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks, Andy _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as mark.levitt at betfair.com. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/mark.levitt%40betfai r.com Send administrative questions to lisa at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ________________________________________________________________________ In order to protect our email recipients, Betfair use SkyScan from MessageLabs to scan all Incoming and Outgoing mail for viruses. ________________________________________________________________________