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Full Time Work
Many sites on the Internet provide salary comparison charts. They all seem to
report approximately the right range of salaries:
The high end topping out at ~$85,000 (US) and the low end begins in
the low 20's (US). Prices vary according to experience and geographic
location. That is quite a range but even if you start off low, there is
a lot of opportunity for growth in this field once you have a bit of experience.
If you are coming out of working for non-profits or not-for-profits, you may
have a sense of loyalty that is not necessary in the High Tech industry. People
move around a lot and the earth doesn't shatter. This was hard for me to get
through my head but it is important to remember if you start off at the bottom
of the ladder because there isn't necessarily a lot of room for hierarchical
growth, most of your growth within the same company will probably be
lateral.
For Contract Work
The high end is $65 per hour and the low end is about $13.00. Consider
using LoudPC if you are going to be jumping from site to site. It is a new product from Loudfire enabling direct access to your PC's Outlook(tm) from any Internet browser or web phone.No synchronization required. Works with your existing email accounts. Accesses all of your folders. All changes reflected immediately in your Outlook(tm)..
Here is where you can Download the FREE trial software
Exceptions
There are always exceptions. I know a FrameMaker expert who is making
$125.00-150.00 per hour plus travel). I interviewed for a job that paid no more
then $5.00 per hour to start. Luckily I didn't need to take it.
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Double-Check
Here are three salary comparison sites which seem quite
popular right now:
According to the U.S. Department of Labor's
"Occupational Outlook Handbook",
the median annual earnings for writers and editors, including technical writers,
were $36,480 in 1998. The middle 50 percent earned between $27,030 and $49,380 a
year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $20,920 and the highest 10 percent
earned over $76,660. In the best of times, those figures were about 1/3 higher.
Unfortunately, in 2004 they are back down to a median of about $40,000.
Senior Technical Writer
Most jobs I've seen posted want at least 2 and often 4 years experience in
order to be hired as a Senior Technical Writer. If you are trying to enter the
field of Technical Writing as a Senior Technical Writer, make sure
you know how to use all of the
software products I
mention, how to estimate documentation projects, how
alpha/beta/delta cycles work, version control and that you know a lot
about the product you will be documenting. These things will be expected
of you.
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