My Job Search update for a Technical Writer position in D.C. Area. (Chantilly: headhunter, job market)

[slaminjamin87]

Hello folks,

It's been a while since I last posted here on this forum, but I wanted to give you all an update on my job search and see if you have any helpful suggestions or tips.

First off, some good news, I did land a part time tech writer position in Rockville. This position will help me improve my technical writing skills and at the same time, I will be continuing to look for a full time job in technical writing.

As for my job search for a full time position, I had some calls and an in person interview with Insight Global last week for a contract-to-hire tech writer position at Chantilly VA. Unfortunately, I never got an opportunity to do an in-person interview at the client site because they wanted another candidate with an active clearance and more web development experience.

I did submit to couple more contract tech writing jobs from other staffing agencies. One of them is for a 12 month contract in Sliver Spring MD, and a 5 month contract in Herndon VA. However, neither of them worked out at all because they already selected another candidate, and I never got the chance to get an phone or in-person interview from those clients.

With the holidays already here, I'm not even sure if I gonna get any job leads, nor if I'm gonna get hired anytime soon. Most HR staff are already in holiday mode and they tend to plan their budgets for next year. Another concern is that most of the technical writing jobs that I want are located outside the D.C. area. Unfortunately, I'm not ready to relocate at this time at all, but I might be forced too if the Job search doesn't work out in the DMV.

This job search has been very slow and brutal for me. I know other friends from college and high school that already gotten jobs this fall, but I yet to get a job for myself. This is becoming really frustrating. It's been nearly five months, and I haven't gotten anything yet.

What should I do at this point?? Should I consider apply to jobs outside the D.C. area or keep applying locally??

Note: my part time position will not go full time in the near future and the company knows that I'm looking for a full time position at this time too.

[terrence81]

Well do you want to continute living in the DC area?

Have you posted your resume online at dice.com or monster.com? When I posed my resume I got plenty of calls and my choice of interviews within a few days when I thought that I would get laid off. Fortunately I got to keep my call but I still get the occasional call. There are plenty of jobs around here. I'd sit down with someone in the know and have them give your resume a harsh evaluation.

[slaminjamin87]

Originally Posted by terrence81

Well do you want to continute living in the DC area?

Have you posted your resume online at dice.com or monster.com? When I posed my resume I got plenty of calls and my choice of interviews within a few days when I thought that I would get laid off. Fortunately I got to keep my call but I still get the occasional call. There are plenty of jobs around here. I'd sit down with someone in the know and have them give your resume a harsh evaluation.

I have my resumes in both monster and dice publicly. The problem is that they aren't that many tech writing jobs in this area at all. Even if I get calls, the process takes too slow and I often get left out despite following up with them.

I do want to live in the D.C. area because I lived here all of my life and I really don't want to relocate at all because I'm just not ready yet. I just throw in relocation as a possible option and see what opinion you folks had on this issue.

[Carlingtonian]

Why don't you broaden your search to include other types of writing jobs? Check journalismjobs.com and indeed.com for openings. If you can write technical stuff, many employers would be willing to bet you can write more conversationally as well. (A few samples of non-technical writing would help convince them, of course.)

[slaminjamin87]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Why don't you broaden your search to include other types of writing jobs? Check journalismjobs.com and indeed.com for openings. If you can write technical stuff, many employers would be willing to bet you can write more conversationally as well. (A few samples of non-technical writing would help convince them, of course.)

I did apply to some of those jobs on indeed Carlingtonian, but in most cases, those positions require 5-7 years of experience and the salary would be lower then what I made at my last full time position.

Also, journalismjobs.com don't have much openings right now in the dc area. I did apply to couple of those jobs in Vienna today, so hopefully some of them work out to my advantage.

[DownEastB]

Keep your connection with Insight Global going. They placed me in my current position (where I got hired directly after the trial period), but they still contact me sometimes with other openings just in case I'm ready to move on from my employers. I'm OK where I am now, but it's comforting to know that they're there in case my situation changes. IG has high standards for employers and job seekers both, from my experience. All the positions they recommended to me looked great.

Hopefully hiring will pick up in January. Thanks for the update and I wish you luck in your search.

[oneasterisk]

We actually had pretty good luck hiring contractors from Insight Global at one of my previous jobs. A few of them went full time with us too. It might depend on the recruiter and their relationship with the employer too.

Our experience with Tek Systems was the opposite. They seemed to bring us the stuff that sunk to the bottom...

Anyways good luck to you. The holiday season is a tough time to be looking for a job, but it seems there are jobs out there, they just are getting filled quickly. It's the nature of living in a competitive job market here in the DC Metro area.

[slaminjamin87]

Thanks for the wishes and tips folks. I agree that Insight Global is a great staffing agency. They did call me for a couple of technical writer positions in D.C., but unfortunately, those positions were only 2 month contracts with no guarantee of extension. However, they do call me every now and then on any tech writer positions becoming available and they do know what I want in terms of pay and the length of the contract. It also helps that I know a couple of people from college that work at Insight Global as well.

Another staffing agency that is really good is Convergenz. They do call me on a weekly basis for a tech writer opening, and just last week I submitted to a 2 year contract position in D.C. Unfortunately, the client decided to close the position and not hire a tech writer at this time. Like Insight Global, Convergenz is doing its best to find the best technical writer position available.

I do believe that my next job will be either permanent that I find myself, or a contract position from Convergenz or Insight Global.

Otherwise, what other staffing agencies do you think that has a great reputation in the D.C. area??

[sportsterjohn]

I was actually working with 2 recruiters from Insight Global (2 different positions), this week. IMHO, they are on par with the other national recuiting companies. As someone who does primarly consulting work (meaning I change jobs as often as I change my underwear), I have found that most of the larger staffing firms are pretty much about the same. Most are legit and pretty straight forward. Now and then I run into an unethical and full of BS headhunter though.
BTW, I just accepted another contract in this area. Why can't the good jobs be in places with warmer weather and beaches!!!!!

[slaminjamin87]

Originally Posted by sportsterjohn

I was actually working with 2 recruiters from Insight Global (2 different positions), this week. IMHO, they are on par with the other national recuiting companies. As someone who does primarly consulting work (meaning I change jobs as often as I change my underwear), I have found that most of the larger staffing firms are pretty much about the same. Most are legit and pretty straight forward. Now and then I run into an unethical and full of BS headhunter though.
BTW, I just accepted another contract in this area. Why can't the good jobs be in places with warmer weather and beaches!!!!!

I wish other areas like Florida and California had more job openings, but those areas have very high unemployment rate and their corporate taxes is pretty high too.

Also, I did get a call from another agency titled Aerotek for a tech writer position in Herndon VA, but the contract was for 30-60 days ughhh!!