A recent survey in the US magazine Money listed the 50 Best Jobs in the USA, based on both salary and job prospects. To create the list, they started with those jobs that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics believes will grow at an above-average rate over the next 10 years. They restricted the list to those jobs requiring a bachelor's degree as the minimum educational attainment, and those having an average salary of at least $50,000 per year. The magazine then rated the jobs by stress levels, flexibility in hours and working environment, creativity, and how easy it is to enter and advance in the field. Finally the magazine ranked the jobs, giving double weight to compensation and percentage growth. You can read about the survey at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/top50/index.html

Some of the results in this list are unsurprising with Software Engineer, College Professor, and Financial Advisor ranked first, second, and third, respectively. Other rankings appear more curious, as Physician/Surgeon is ranked 30th and Lawyer only 37th. But the most intriguing result, as far as members of the STC are concerned, is the fact that the job of Technical Writer was ranked as the 13th Best Job. According to the magazine, there are over 50,000 technical writers in the USA, each earning on average a salary of over $57,000. The profession was given a "B" grade for Stress, Flexibility, and Creativity, and a "C" grade for Difficulty. So it looks like, in the USA at least, being a technical writer is a good job to have.

Unfortunately, I am not sure that many members would feel that being a technical writer is such a good job to have in the UK. For a start, our profession is not widely recognised. Even in high-tech industries it is often difficult to convince managers that the best person to write a user document is actually a writer, rather than an engineer. This lack of recognition is difficult to combat when the current edition of the UK's list of Standard Occupational Classifications, published by the Office of National Statistics in 2000, doesn't even list Technical Writer (or Technical Author) as an occupation, and when no university in the United Kingdom currently offers an undergraduate course in technical communications.

One of the objects of the STC is to promote our profession, and this is a mission that we can all take part in, as individuals, as STC members, and as members and supporters of other professional organisations. Anything and everything we do that shows pride in our careers will help overcome the professional anonymity we are suffering from at the moment. In the first instance, we must all see ourselves as ambassadors for our profession in the workplace. We must strive for excellence in the work we produce, to demonstrate the value that our work adds to our employers' (or our clients') businesses. If we do not take ourselves seriously at this level, we can hardly expect other people to do so.

We must be aware of the need to keep our knowledge and skills up to date, and the STC UK Chapter helps in this area by arranging seminars and conferences. The weekend we organised late last year on DITA, for example, was a great success, and we are looking forward to a national one-day conference in June, and an international two-day conference in October.

Finally, we must make an effort to provide leadership at all levels. Those of us with more experience should see mentoring junior writers as an opportunity not as a burden. There are now three Local Interest Groups attached to the UK Chapter, and I would encourage everyone to take part in their local LIG meetings. If there is no LIG in your locality you might like to consider starting one up - we can offer you plenty of help. At the national level, there are a number of roles on the Chapter Board that are currently vacant or which will become vacant in June, and you should consider any time that you put in to helping run the Chapter as an investment in the future of your chosen profession.

I am very proud to say that our Chapter has now reached a point at which it is offering leadership at the international level as well. As I am sure you all know by now, one of my predecessors as UK Chapter President, Mark Clifford, has been elected as the STC's 2nd Vice President, and will take office formally in May at the STC Conference in Las Vegas. Mark is going to be at the very heart of STC affairs for the next four years, as he serves first as 2nd Vice-President, then 1st Vice-President, then President, and then remains on the Board for one further year as Immediate Past President. Much has been said already about the importance for the non-US members and Chapters of the STC in having a non-US member as STC President, and I am sure that this will do a great deal to help make the STC a truly international organisation. In addition, I have no doubt that having a British person as the head of an international organisation for technical communicators will do a great deal of good for our profession in Britain and Europe. I am delighted to congratulate Mark on behalf of the Chapter, and to promise him our enthusiastic support. I am sure he will do a good job for all of us.

With all good wishes,

David Farbey