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Working mom finds work-life balance
Starting a family can mean big changes鈥攁nd sometimes even the need for a new career. For Ontario鈥檚 Heather Smirle, having children meant swapping a heavy travel schedule for a flexible career that would allow her to stay home. Thanks to SFU鈥檚 Technical Communication program, she鈥檚 now working as a freelance technical writer.
When Heather first left her job in Ajax as a strategic planning manager at DuPont, she鈥檇 found herself casting about for something new to do. She opened and operated an online store for a time, and also tried out a few online courses.
鈥淚 was very active on technical forums and helping people out, so I was sort of technical writing without even realizing I was doing it鈥攂ut I loved it,鈥� says Heather. 鈥淯ntil I came across the SFU description for Technical Communication, I hadn鈥檛 even thought about it as a discipline. But I thought it would be a perfect way for me to get into the workforce again.鈥�
Even while she was at DuPont, Heather recalls she had a knack for communication and enjoyed explaining technical details to her colleagues. But to gain entry into the technical writing field, Heather realized she would need to add formal training and accreditation to her r茅sum茅鈥攚hich was where the Technical Communication Certificate fit in.
鈥淚t gives me that credibility for people who don鈥檛 know me, and helps get my foot in the door,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 think having the certification also gives you more opportunities, whether you want to be a freelancer or are prepared to commit to a corporate role.鈥�
According to Heather, the training allowed her to build her portfolio while improving her writing. 鈥淲hat would have once taken me three paragraphs, I can now distill into a bullet point,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f you can make your language clearer and easier for people to read and understand quickly, then you鈥檙e just so far ahead in your job already.鈥�
If the program brought her one surprise, it was that she鈥檇 never understood Microsoft Word鈥檚 full functionality: 鈥淚 thought I was a complete MS Word power user before the course. Then I realized I was a bit of a hack with the manual formatting I was doing. Now clients think I鈥檓 a wizard when I apply styles and make changes quickly鈥攖hey just can鈥檛 believe it!鈥�
Although she鈥檇 originally expected technical writing would mean a focus on software, Heather has now worked in a variety of sectors, on jobs ranging from operations manuals to requests for proposals.
鈥淚t鈥檚 setting me on a path where I hadn鈥檛 thought to go,鈥� she reflects. 鈥淓very job I鈥檓 taking so far has been very different. It keeps things interesting, and I love that I鈥檓 constantly learning.鈥�
about Heather鈥檚 experience in the program on her blog.
By Kim Mah