Autumn has a Post Graduate Certificate in Technical Writing from Algonquin College and a B.A. Honours in European and Russian Studies—Concentration in European Integration from Carleton University.
Me: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Autumn: The ones I remember were teacher and children’s author. I merged them and became an instructional designer instead!
Me: If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first started in the field, what advice would you give?
Autumn: I’d tell myself to focus!
With a field that can have so many possibilities, it can be challenging to figure out what you want to do.
It took a while to figure out that focus is important when marketing myself for a job search and it took a while to figure out I wanted to do instructional design. I see now how important that focus is when looking for a job you love.
Me: Which of the training, experience or advice that you’ve received did you find the most useful in your career?
Autumn: Off the top of my head, the advice my friend gave me about using networking and informational interviews to find a job has been the most useful and impactful. That’s probably because she was right.
Me: What do you do when you get “writers block” or aren’t sure exactly how you want to start writing something?
Autumn: Eat chocolate. Once I’m in a chocolate coma everything comes naturally.
In reality, I’ll usually type notes to start with then use various rhymes I learned in school about starting with the purpose, context and organization (PCO) of the document. All right, PCO isn’t really a rhyme but, I lilt it when I say it in my head. I can then add in the other information my audience needs.
Me: What do you like most about being a member of the STC West Coast Chapter?
Autumn: I like being able to chat with others in the field that understand the challenges. It’s great to meet new people and learn about the other things technical communicators do in Vancouver.
Me: What are you most excited about for this next year as STC-CWC president?
Autumn: I’m excited to collaborate with everyone so we can put on some great events and have lots of fun learning and growing as professionals.
Me: What do you like to do outside of your career? Interesting hobbies or pastimes?
Autumn: I try to keep up with my Swedish language practice. Besides that, I stay active with skiing, cycling, swimming, dancing etc.
