About Me
Book & Man is Chance Jiang’s website for tech writing.
My full-time technical writing job started by end of 2007 after I quit SCUT (South China University of Technology), and I’ve been living more happily thereafter.
I got my BA in English for Science in an engineering university in Guangzhou, P.R.China. My first job is an international liaison officer for my Alma mater. It was the best first job I could ever imagine because it’s nature is basically meeting people from around the world. I spent 3 years on it.
Since most of my good friends I grew up with are all in IT, I have strong attachment to information technology or engineering/science in general. Although I did not know where to get started at first. I knew I would get it one way or another, since I envisioned my role not being confined to anything in particular.
The job “technical writer” first caught my attention from my Internet reading in 1999. I remember that the article I read talked about how English graduates could easily get into the IT industry by becoming a technical writer in Silicon Valley (USA). Of course, the English graduates need to cross-train themselves with the many technical stuff required by tech writing, such as version control and XML (structured editing/writing).
This piece of information stored in my LTM (long term memory) somehow even though I spent nearly 10 years doing other jobs and accepting translation work on and off. I enjoy playing around with different software technologies (mostly FOSS softwares, especially FreeBSD) in previous jobs. Despite all the job varieties I enjoyed, I was not happy with my professional identity and sometimes felt lost. The institutional failure I discovered in the state-controlled institutions frustrated me further and added to my identity confusion.
Not until the HR of my current company called me up one day late 2007, I realized that I should try something simpler and more specialized before I am too old to get out of the comfortable state-funded institution. The last day I walked out of the beautiful campus I worked for nearly 10 years, I felt like the pianist trying to leave the big cross-Atlantic cruiser ship in the movie 1900. If you finished the movie, you know how he ended up.
I know my restless nature as a curious person. When the time comes, choosing whatever feel right for the moment is probably the only right thing to do. I like technical writing and will explore more opportunities for myself as well as other fellow Chinese who like to join me in this new profession in P.R.China.
But again, you shall never know what comes next until it comes. It’s the ultimate fun of being alive.
