Big news, baby! I’ve got myself a new job!

It started last year when Don wrote me asking what my work situation was. At the time, I’d been laid off from my job and even though I knew I would be called back, I didn’t know when, and it was a comparatively low-paying contract position. He asked because the company he worked for was looking to fill a technical writer position. I’ve done some technical writing at work, but I would absolutely not call myself a technical writer. There’s too much I don’t know. Still, they wanted to see me so I went in for an interview. I thought it went remarkably well but they decided to go with someone looking to move internally. I certainly understand that. An existing employee is a known quantity.

But this existing employee quit and Don wrote me back a couple of weeks ago. I am working, but I told him I was interested. They contacted me and I went in for a second interview. I think this one went well too, especially because they made me an offer later the same day. Now make no mistake, I know they’re taking a bit of a risk on my because I don’t have a body of work to prove my skill, but I’m confident. Friends who’ve done technical writing have also told me they think I can do it after I learn the ropes.

Interestingly enough, about the same time Don wrote me, I got a message from a friend of Jessica’s who I sent my resume to for a software testing position late last year. I never heard back. It appears I didn’t make to cut for an interview then but they wanted me to come in and I did the day after the interview for the technical writing position. As it turns out, they made me an offer. It was for more money, but they offered me a five month contract which would very likely be renewed, but they couldn’t make me any promises. The contract also paid from between $5K to $15K more, but I decided against it for a number of reasons.

A full-time job with benefits and vacation days trumps a contract. Of course more money gets the contract a second look, but since I could only be sure of it lasting until the end of the year, the extra money wasn’t much of a draw. Even more important was the contract was for software testing. I like testing just fine, and I think I’m pretty good at it, but I believe it’s time for a change. Learning technical writing could be an excellent career move too. I really liked the people I interviewed with at both places, so that aspect was a tie. Still, their being willing to take a bit of a risk on me to work out as a writer earns marks in my book too.

So there you go. A week from tomorrow is my first day and although I expect to take some time to get up to speed, I have a tremendously good feeling things will work out well. As has been the case in the past, you won’t read the name of the company here, nor will I give any details about the place, but I think what I’ve said here violates no trusts.

And jeez, I had to share the good news!