My own approach to continuing education is that it needs to be something I want to expand myself. What I'm getting from what you wrote is that you don't have a definite direction in mind. You have a successful career in technical writing; chances are good you're making a darned good salary. What new horizons do you see for yourself in, say, five years after having achieved a Masters degree? Do you want to change careers? Do you want to advance within your company and if so, does that require a move away from technical writing (in many companies, there's no career path for technical writers other than to become the manager of technical writers) into marketing, development or project management? If you want to advance within your company, whose job do you want? And if that's the case, do you think there's a realistic possibility that a) the person currently in that position will either leave or get promoted at the right time for you to step in to the position AND b) that if you've timed things correctly, you, with your freshly minted graduate degree, will be the logical choice for the company to fill that position? Or do you see the company growing such that when you get that degree there'll be an appropriate opportunity commensurate with your experience and expanded knowledge AND something that would be gratifying to you?
I've been extremely fortunate with my lowly pair of Associate degrees to have worked as a technical writer for 20 years now and to have acquired the skills and experience to command a pretty good price in the marketplace. However, I've been doing contract work for most of the last ten years (I've only had one employee position in the last ten years and that lasted six months until a senior VP walked into our remote corporate office and announce that the office was being closed), thus I've been reasonably insulated from corporate life. I'm also fortunate that I love being a technical writer and don't have any desire to move into other aspects of corporate life. One small benefit to being a contractor is never having to do those self evaluations and come up with objectives. The only career objective I can come up with is to change careers and become a dabbler... just dabble in whatever strikes my fancy until I become bored with it. I guess what I'm saying is I don't have a clear sense of your career objective... what DO you want to be when you grow up <grin>? Mike -- Mike Starr WriteStarr Information Services Technical Writer - Online Help Developer - Website developer Graphic Designer - Desktop Publisher - MS Office Expert Phone: (262) 694-1028 - Tollfree: (877) 892-1028 - Fax:(262) 697-6334 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Web: http://www.writestarr.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brierley, Sean" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 3:10 PM Subject: Re: [TCP] graduate education not a benefit > Great question! (I was waiting for it.) > > Outlining the degree and graduate coursework was not part of my self > evaluation. So my boss doesn't know that. > > So, the opinion that getting a masters degree was not an objective that > supported company goals and was not a good objective for our self > reviews is a sweeping opinion that is not limited by the object of the > degree or coursework. > > And, honestly, I haven't decided what. I want to support my career at my > current employer, and I need the four-year school to be geographically > convenient, but I am not sure beyond that. > > Offhand, I'd say with a BA in English and a 15-year history of technical > writing, a Masters in English would be easiest. Do I have things to > learn there and can my employer benefit from them? Secondly, I have > coursework in programming. We do software, can graduate coursework in > programming, networks, and such fit into a masters degree in English? > Or, am I close enough to a technical degree? How about an educational > bent? What if I took coursework related to educating, would my writing > and my employer benefit? How about if I pursued a management degree? > That's the list in my head, anyway. I was really waiting for feedback > from my employer before delving into this. > > What would you do and why? > > Thoughts? > > Cheers, > > Sean ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com _______________________________________________ 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
