Want to Boost Your Career? Volunteer!

By Karen Field Carroll, Editor

Signature's September issue is the fifth one I've produced, and although it's a lot of work, I'm seasoned enough now to say honestly that the job of managing editor brings its rewards, too.

Take the columnists, for example. Jim Sands, Gail Van Landingham, and Deborah Gill-Hesselgrave are three folks who: (a) keep me (and you!) informed, (b) keep me confident in the newsletter's content, and (c) keep me laughing. (I can't share the e-mails messages, unfortunately.) There's also the giant purple plume for my resume: My experience as a managing editor led to another volunteer position as managing editor with a local non-profit. I intend to land freelance clients with this experience.

I could go on. The point is that I'm just not selfish enough to hog all the fun. I'd rather share it. With you!

All that said, Signature needs volunteers in the following areas:

HTML help. Commitment: About 5 to 10 hours per month. Responsibilities: Put the content of the newsletter articles into the Signature DreamWeaver template. Upload pages to STC development site for review. Post pages to Web site (working with the San Diego STC's Webmaster).

Assistant managing editor. Commitment: 5 to 10 hours per month: Responsibilities: Read preliminary content for appropriateness, length, and editing. Forward content to editors. Check final HTML pages for typos.

Writer. Member callouts: Attend monthly STC meetings and write brief, one-paragraph profiles of members who are looking for work or would like to be profiled. (You can write about any STC member, not just people at the meeting.)

If you'd like to volunteer, write me at newsletter@stc-sd.org. We'll talk. I look forward to working with you.

Best,
Karen