Expert: Susan Rand - 9/4/2009

Question
Hi,

My name is Shelly and I was trying to get into technical writing but i did not get any volunteer opportunities in that area.So, i started volunteering in grant writing area.My ques is that do you think it makes sense to do volunteer work in grant writing to get a job in grant writing.How much scope does one have in this area?I mean money wise.Can I swithch to any other field of writing  from this afterwards, once i get any such opportunity?Like can i get in to tech writing later on .Will this exp help me on that?

Answer
Hello Shelly:

Any experience you are able to get in either technical or grant writing will be valuable to you, whatever career you end up pursuing. You do not need to reveal on your resume that it was a volunteer position.

I can't tell you how much money you might make as a grant or technical writer as I have never applied for either of those jobs. However, in my search for work as a freelance writer I come across quite a few ads for both types of writers. To find out how much these jobs pay, you might visit http://www.absolutewrite.com and get on their Water Cooler forum. There you will find writers of every stripe. You can also type "Payment for grant writing" into your search engine and see what you come up with. To find the jobs themselves, go to http://www.freelancedaily.com and sign up for the newsletter. It costs a few dollars a month, but it will soon pay for itself. Be very careful of scams.

You should not have much trouble switching from grant writing to technical writing but it might require taking a course, or doing more volunteer work. As you might guess, technical writing is pretty technical, so it would probably be a good idea to select a trade that interests you, like medical equipment or heating and air conditioning, where there is some demand.

I hope this helps. If it does, a nice rating would be greatly appreciated. I am proud of my high scores over 1900+ questions.

And good luck with your training!