I am pleased to present a guest-edited issue of Intercom by Jack Molisani on career development and achieving prosperity as a content professional. Looking at the ways technical communicators currently promote their work and request compensation, Jack has compared where technical communicators are in actual performance with their potential performance, or where they want to be. Through the articles by industry leaders he has collected here, Jack shows that technical communicators have the tools at their disposal to become powerful organizational change agents.
Jack started his career as a project officer in the United States Air Force, went on to be a sales engineer, technical writer, manager of technical documentation, and owner of a technical writing and staffing firm. He’s been on both sides of the interview desk as a staff employee, an independent contractor, and a documentation and training manager.
Jack has a degree in computer engineering from Tulane University and is the president of ProSpring Technical Staffing, a staffing agency specializing in computer engineers and content professionals. He also produces The LavaCon Conference on Content Strategy and User Experience. He is an STC Fellow and a member of the Project Management Institute, User Experience Professionals, and Meeting Planners International. He has just published his first book, Be The Captain of Your Career: A New Approach To Career Planning and Development.
Given his work and life experiences, Jack feels it is his job to predict what people will need to know one to two years out (and beyond), and then give them the tools they need to get there. In this issue of Intercom, Jack provides readers with much fodder for growth and the suggested tools they should be acquiring and using. Thank you, Jack, for sharing your expertise with us!
I’m also pleased to launch a new column this month—Student Perspectives edited by Kirk St.Amant. Contributors to the column are currently enrolled students or recent graduates. To write for the column, email Dr. St.Amant at stamantk@ecu.edu.
—Liz Pohland
