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FROM FIONA: Your reply cordially requested
Tomorrow, as part of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work, Fiona is going to be visiting Rob's store and spending the day with him, learning about his job. The last two years, she has spent this day with me at my office, learning about my job.
I'd like her to give her the chance to learn about a lot of jobs. Specifically, your job.
Won't you tell Fiona about your job, so she can get an idea of the vast possibilities in the World of Work out there?
If you can, please leave Fiona a comment by tomorrow night, telling her about your career. Something like:
What your job title is, and what that means
A description of a typical day
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
Why you like it and (if you dare)
Why you dislike it
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
What kind of person thrives in your job
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
I'd like her to get as many replies as possible. Thanks ever so much!
Cheers,
Peg (and Fiona)
I'd like her to give her the chance to learn about a lot of jobs. Specifically, your job.
Won't you tell Fiona about your job, so she can get an idea of the vast possibilities in the World of Work out there?
If you can, please leave Fiona a comment by tomorrow night, telling her about your career. Something like:
What your job title is, and what that means
A description of a typical day
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
Why you like it and (if you dare)
Why you dislike it
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
What kind of person thrives in your job
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
I'd like her to get as many replies as possible. Thanks ever so much!
Cheers,
Peg (and Fiona)
Technical Editor
I am a technical editor. That means I don't edit fiction books like your mom writes; I help people like chemists, geologists, and environmental scientists to say things clearly and correctly, and get their point across.
A description of a typical day.
I have no typical days. My days depend on what people drop into our box for editing, and when they need it. But usually there are no slow periods.
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job.
A degree in English or Communication, most likely; and a love of things written, a love of that great Lego set which is language. Experience helps, but if you do the job that part will take care of itself.
Why you like it and (if you dare).
Because I love bringing order from chaos. I love polishing the diamond at the heart of someone's idea. I love that moment of triumph when you find *just* the right way to say what someone has been groping for. I love helping people *communicate.*
What a writer says--the message sent--and what a reader "hears"--the message received--can be totally different things. I love helping someone learn to help their audience hear what they are trying to say.
Why you dislike it.
I don't. I love it. The only downside is that I don't get to spend as much time with my own children.
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
We can miss a deadline. The email can go down and we will get submissions late. I can miss things in important documents (like Property Manger instead of Property Manager). And the usual--I can say things or do things that I later worry about being unprofessional or stupid--but everyone does that, that's not just my job.
What kind of person thrives in your job.
Someone who loves details. Someone who, even when they're tired, still pulls out the dictionary for the umpteenth time to look up "timeframe" because they can never remember if it's one word or two, and they know they are the final authority and nobody else will catch it. Someone who thinks it's important enough that the word be correct, to do all that even when they know most readers won't even notice. *They'll* know.
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
Imagine driving down the road and wanting to correct misspellings on billboards. Or telling your waiter when you found a typo on the menu. Or talking about British versus American spellings and usages at parties. That is what an editor does. And you do it whether you like it or not; editing is one career that you tend to be born into. Whether or not you do it for a living or are ever paid for it.
~Amanda
Re: Technical Editor
Today I signed the lease on my new flat. Among other things, I agreed not to damage the 'toilet bowels'. My father had to restrain me from correcting it, in pen, before signing it.