----- Original Message ----- From: "Robotti, Anne (Carlin)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> But even those of you with many year of management experience had a > first management job. > > What made you think you were ready? Basically, I had nothing to lose. My first job as a writer was a position called "Research Engineer." The company felt that their previous (English/journalism background) writers had been unable to adequately grasp the tech, so they went looking for engineers with good writing skills or writers with engineering experience. After 10 months of temp-to-perm at this gig, I was offered a direct hire at the same time the 70-person startup was bought out, and my offer letter was framed in the same terms as the letter all the company's direct employees received: accept the following position no later than... or my employment with the new company would be terminated when the old one ceased to exist. In my case, the position offered was "Technical Publications Supervisor." >What mistakes did you make in that first job? Mostly the same ones that all new managers make to some extent or another. Being reluctant to delegate, being a bit too "fraternal" with former coworkers who were now subordinates, etc. The biggest mistake - listening to my own manager and trying to hire additional people who had the same skillset I did and forgetting that the reason I had gotten that job in the first place was that in that particular time, place and industry, I was pretty much the only one there was who did. Since then I have learned to always look for people who can either do something I can't do or who can do something I can do better than I can do it. Gene Kim-Eng ______________________________________________ Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com -- your 3D documentation community. _______________________________________________ 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
