By Phil Johncock
You know more than you think as a first-time grant writer. This article shows you 10 things you need to know including how to do what you do best and delegate the rest, as well as how to increase your success rate.
You’re not starting from scratch. You already have skills that you can tap, like writing, delegating, networking. Brainstorm the skills have. Do what you do best. Delegate the rest. Then, leverage these in your grant writing.
Your first grant will take the longest. My first grant took 100 hours to write. I wanted to do the best job I could, so I put in more time that I really needed. The first time is always the hardest and the longest. Very quickly, you’ll learn tips to save time and short cuts to getting things done faster.
If you submit a proposal without help, you’ll be successful 10-20% of the time. You may get lucky your first time. I was lucky. Most aren’t. If you’re going to put the time and effort into writing a proposal, find a mentor or teacher to help you. Continued…
Posted in Grant Writing.
Tagged with Grant Writing.
(This is one of the better articles I’ve seen devoted to this topic. Here is an excerpt:)
The Ideal Technical Communications Resume
Wondering how to improve your chances of getting that ideal next (or first) job as a technical communicator? This article explains some of our views on one of the most important elements of your job search.
Resumes. Few enjoy writing them, and fewer like being quizzed about their contents. But with busy hiring managers making quick decisions with very few facts and little room for error, a resume is often the only chance candidates get to demonstrate their potential.
Your resume is your most important portfolio piece because it’s the first writing sample any hiring manager will see. We’ve compiled the following suggestions to help you get noticed by Bay Area high-tech company hiring managers. They work, and you will too once you implement them. Continued…
Posted in Resumes.
Tagged with Resumes.
(Excerpt)
by David Keleti, PhD
About 50 percent of the individuals who contact me concerning entering the field of medical writing are career professionals in their chosen specialty, and are considering a lateral transition into a new job. These individuals fall into one of three categories:
1) those with an MD degree who are looking to either escape from or receive supplementary income to their private practice;
2) those with a PhD degree who are looking to escape from laboratory work;
3) more rarely, those with an engineering or IT background who are interested in the life sciences.
I would not advocate making a career transition into medical writing for the sole purpose of escaping from laboratory or clinical work. Dissatisfaction with current jobs should encourage individuals to pursue other interests. Like any career, medical writing comes with its own complement of frustrations and disappointments. Before considering a career in medical writing, an individual should undertake a candid self-appraisal…
Click here for the rest of this informative career article
Resource Ebook:
Make Money as a Medical Writer
Posted in Medical Writing.
Tagged with Medical Writing.
By Kathy Duncan
When putting a workshop or course together for a group of people, you might take great pride in the way that you have bound the booklets, and carefully organized the material. It is possible that only half of the group will really appreciate your work. The other half might lose the booklet in their car as soon as the workshop is over.
Generally, people not only favor a particular learning style, but they think with a dominant brain side. The left brain student is likely to appreciate the checklist that you have included with the course syllabus, and is likely to use it, while the right brain student would probably respond better to color coding.
Before designing an educational program, it is a good idea to explore these very different types of thinkers and organizers so that you can attract and maintain the interest of each. If you are the type of person that is motivated to organize this type of learning program, you are likely to be a left brain thinker. In order to be completely effective, you will need to learn different techniques to attract the right brain dreamer. Of all things, do not have your feelings hurt if someone doesn’t fawn over your meticulous presentation. Maybe they just don’t get it. Left brain thinkers are much more obsessive than right brainers. Continued…
Posted in Technical Writing.
Tagged with Technical Writing.
UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley provides the training and education needed for technical writers to succeed. Their certificate program offers state-of-the-art tools, resources, and the knowledge you need to grow a successful career and maintain certification.
Upcoming Course:
Developing Technical Information from Plan to Completion
1947-021 Starts March 22
For more information, contact:
Lena Tran, Ed.D., MBA
Director, Business & Management Education
UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley
2505 Augustine Drive, Suite 100
Santa Clara, CA 95054
www.ucsc-extension.edu
Posted in Education.
Tagged with Education.
© 2010 Ugur Akinci
There are those cases when the best way to make a long and complicated paragraph understandable is to transform it into a table.
Here is an example.
First the paragraph:
“In those cases when there is low load on the circuit (that is, less than 10 watts), the user should turn on switches S1 and S2 while turning off switches S2, S3. When the load is medium (between 10 and 30 watts), the user must turn the switches S2 and S3 on while turning off S4 and S5. However, in those cases where the system experiences a high load (that is, over 30 watts), the operator must turn on switches S4 and S5 and turn off switches S1 and S2.”
And now, here is the same information presented in a table:
| CIRCUIT LOAD |
Power Switches |
| Turn On |
Turn Off |
| Low Load (< 10 watts) |
S1, S2 |
S2, S3 |
| Medium Load (Between 10 and 30 watts) |
S2, S3 |
S4, S5 |
| High Load (> 30 watts) |
S4, S5 |
S1, S2 |
Which one is easier to understand? I think the answer is obvious to see.
Posted in Technical Writing.
Tagged with Technical Writing.
by Anonymous
We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese..
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose. Continued…
Posted in English.
Tagged with English.
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