I wanted to do Journalism at a time, but I decided to switch to CompSci for pretty much this commenter's reason: I love writing, but I'm not sure if it's a good way to make money. As long as I'm good at CompSci, I shouldn't have a problem getting a job, and that gives me more leeway to be a writer, a coder, or both. That being said, if you really do like journalism, whether you code or not, it shouldn't be a problem to get a job in the field. I'm currently working as a Technical Writer for my school, and I like it and I'm good at it. I've put some effort into the job and gotten a few large projects done, and decided to add them to my LinkedIn profile. I've gotten two job offers already, one for $65,000. In the end, I think it's all about experience. So I suppose I agree with this writer, in the sense that I don't think coding is going to magically get you a writing position. But experience probably will.They say you should do what you want to do and the money will follow. I'd like to amend that to do what you want to do, but do something to make a living too so you don't wind up a destitute street person or living in your mother's basement while you're doing what you want to do.
Technical writing is very different from journalism. But if you find you are good at both coding and writing, that makes you ideal for communicating -- I'd even say 'translating' -- a difficult concept to a more palatable one. I'm sure I have the communications and geek skills to be a technical writer. But I sometimes I find writing in-depth, step-by-step detail very taxing. It is actually one of the characteristics that leaves me frustrated when coding. I don't care what anyone says; in today's computer-driven society, I don't think you have a choice in learning some tech-related skill. And I don't mean being able to post to Facebook or operate Microsoft Word. Having a basic understanding of systems and their processes, how things relate and interact, understanding how we consume technology and how to properly develop for it -- whether it be a web page, an app or new hardware -- will be as essential as reading, writing and mathematics in this century.
It's funny, I just saw your response and wanted to comment this to you. I think you'll find this paper rather interesting, and in-line with what you're thinking. I agree with it as well. There has been an assumption that people my generation are "better with technology," but only in the sense that they're able to handle computers without issue, in the same way people a generation above us are able to handle telephones, TVs, etc. without issue. Coding, either through web-design or something like Python or C++, is a really valuable skill to have.
Yes, yes, yes! Thank you for sharing that paper. I have bookmarked it. From a brief glance, that's exactly the kind of subject matter I've been throwing around to professors when I talk about seeing a merger of media and computer science. No -- we're not turning the j-school into a math and science geek fest; there are a lot of elements to what we do as communicators that are tied to technology and vice versa. I have no issue with CS sticking with theoretical advancements; but I'd love to see communications schools learn from them and apply the lessons in practical settings (media is a great field in which people can accumulate skills, not just knowledge). I think it is a false sense to think younger generations are tech savvy. They're not. This is what prompted computer engineers in the UK to create the Raspberry Pi -- to teach children basic programming and computer skills that are no longer taught (because the computer became a medium as opposed to a tool). Thank you so much for sharing that paper!
I'm currently working as a Technical Writer for my school, and I like it and I'm good at it
-What kind of work does that entail? Have you written anything I could read? -I'm always curious about the writers we have around here. I enjoy reading peoples original work.
Ah, it's not particularly interesting, to be honest, haha. It's just internal documantion for my school's Registrar's Office. I have to present new technology and the office's procedures as clearly and efficiently as possible. So for example, when our new printers moved into the office, I had to take pictures of the printers, go through the instruction manual, and create instructions on how to operate the printers in simple terms, but with enough detail to make sense. Then I created a second document for our internal wikipedia page detailing any troubleshooting solutions that us student techs can use if the printers are malfunctioning. Another example would be having to learn the ins-and-outs of our new timeclock punch-out system. It can seem a bit dry, but I've always been interested in how things work and why, and that translates well into the job. I was the kid that would always push buttons to see what happens, the only difference is I write what happens now, haha.