Job Responsibilities
I write curriculum. Currently I am seeking a permanent full
time position, but am doing contract work in the meantime. I
also work part-time at Starbucks. There I make coffee drinks,
ring purchases on the register (walk-in customers and drive
through customers) I also wash dished, restock pastries, and
clean the cafe area.
As a curriculum writer I meet with clients to discuss their
needs. I research the topic and determine apropriate material
to include. I talk with subject matter experts and other
primary and secondary sources. I write lesson plans to be used
by trainers or teachers. I spend most of my time writing--60-
70% and the remaining time researching and meeting with
clients. Much of my writing time is simply formatting and
editing.
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Job Requirements
In this career it is necessary to have a college education.
Graduate work in adult education theory is also helpful, but not
necessary. Many curriculum writers are former teachers in
public education.
I have an MBA and an MA in International business. They are
useless in this situation. That is why I am looking for
permanent work, hopefully in the training dept of a large
international corporation.
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Uppers
I work from home on my current project. That is nice because the work
environment is more comfortable (big easy chair to sit in) and I can schedule my
own hours. THe difficulty is that I get distracted by laundry, etc, and people
who don't understand that when i work from home, i need to work, not just do
other things. I also don't have to deal with office politicts.
THe job generally is self-motivating, people trust my intellect and trust me to
do the job. it can get repetitious at times though
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Downers
If you don't know the topic you are writing on, you have to do a
lot of research. For me, this is stressful because I like to be
an expert on what I am writing about so I get stressed that my
work may not be as high quality as possible since i am a novice
in some subjects.
this is contract work, sometimes I work, sometimes i dont.
Either i have money and no time to do fun things, or time but no
money to do fun things.
It gets lonely working from home, no social distractions. also,
no technical support for computer issues. I must use my own
equipment and incurr costs for that.--not a lot of extra perks.
the compensation is pretty good, but i don't have health
benefits.
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Lifestyle
Work from home in sweats--so it is comfortable. No social events because I work
for myself. I can choose my own projects, some are good, some are bad.
Since work is not steady, I have a part time job. It can get stressfull when
those two conflict, and when I end up working 60-70 hours trying to do all my
jobs and keep everyone happy.
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Compensation
I get paid $30 an hour currently. It varies with the project.
I get no benefits, but my contracting company does take care of
my social security payments.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Job outlook is pretty good. Get some experience with a company
before you try to do this alone. You learn a lot from others
around you when you work in a company. Start as a trainer then
you might be able to move into curriculum writing and
development if you want. Lot of time is spent in front of a computer screen on
this job, you have to know word processing skills well.
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