Job: Technical Writer (United States)

It's to give a simple piece of advice:

Take any tech writing (or related) job that comes your way, at first. I started my first tech writing position when I was 22 and with a year and a half before I graduated.

Work hard on your resume. For tech writers, it is a portrayal of our attention to detail and editing abilities. Take it, and cover letters, very seriously.

5 years ago I was 4 years deep in a B.A. that took me nearly 6 years to complete (I worked full-time). I was working at Circuit City and subsidizing my poverty with student loans. I had the confidence to put my resume on Monster.com, and sure enough I had legitimate interest almost immediately.

I got my start as a contractor with Siemens, the best move of my entire professional career. And I jumped from contract to contract until the year I graduated. I ended up working for (in addition to Siemens) EA Sports, Lockheed Martin, and two other smaller defense companies.

It all started with the first contractor position. I knew I could turn it into valuable experience, I just didn't know that I would be reaping the benefits for the foreseeable future.

I got lucky; Siemens was my first professional interview and I got the job. But I was an average student, went to a public state university, and I hadn't earned any awards or recognition. I was just prepared to jump at the first company that showed interest.

It all started with my confidence to put my resume online and tell employers that I felt I could do the work (in retrospect, that was probably a lie).

Summary:

1) Be confident in your abilities. Sell your skills.

2) Get out there and test the market, you'll never know unless you try.

3) In the beginning, be flexible about what industry or position you start at, you never know where it might lead.