Downsizing from a Corporation to a Startup While Leveling Up Your Career

Ever been tempted to respond to one of those recruiters that hit you up on LinkedIn? This is the story of two technical writers who answered when a startup CEO called, and were persuaded in one hour to leave behind comfortable roles on an amazing documentation team at one of the largest technology companies.

But this talk isn’t just about a good story. It’s about reflecting on the skills we had–and needed to improve–as technical writers to make such a transition successful. You’ll meet colorful personalities that can change the trajectory of an entire product line or company; see how we used familiar tools like Git for content management in new ways; vicariously suffer with us over a less-than-ideal docs lifecycle process; and maybe surprise yourself as we did at your competence and interest in learning new things. The takeaways from this talk will increase your confidence in navigating the next step of your technical communication career, especially if you are considering a major change of environment such as from a large corporation to a startup, or vice versa.