Transitioning from Freelance Life Back to Full-Time Employment

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Bart Leahy

If you read the past few months’ entries, you’ll see that I’ve had an interesting year, which began with being told that my ongoing (it would have been eight years as of May 30) contract with Nissan would be coming to an end. This has resulted in quite a few changes in my professional life while other events have been occurring in my personal life, which I’ll recapitulate below. The bottom-line message of this month’s post is: change happens, and the better you can handle that reality, the better you will adapt as your career unfolds. Continue reading →

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Job Hunting, Interviewing, and Exercising Patience

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Bart Leahy

While work continues on my short-term contract with NASA, so too does has the job hunt. Jobs in my preferred industry in Central Florida have been thin online, so it was a welcome relief when my network once again worked its magic in March and a former customer messaged me in LinkedIn to see if I’d be interested in working for his company. The down side was that it took a while for the formal interview process to move at the speed I’d hoped. Demonstrating calm and patience while job and house hunting has been…challenging. Continue reading →

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Adult Living and Visualizing a Better Future

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Bart Leahy

I’m still “keeping it real” here at Heroic Technical Writing. I’ve got work to do, bills to pay, and a new home to hunt. All of those are simple in concept but difficult in execution. As some folks put it, “Adulting is hard.” Welcome to April’s lessons in technical communication adulting. Continue reading →

Posted in careers, freelancing, interviews, job hunting, personal, technical writing | 2 Comments

Visionary Writing, Compliance Writing, and the Space Business

Posted on April 1, 2023 by Bart Leahy

Over the course of my space career (as a citizen advocate since 1997 and as a professional since 2003), I’ve had the privilege of writing and editing many different kinds of documents, some more interesting than others, but all part of the space writing ecosphere, if there is such a thing. Today, I thought I’d share some of the documents you might encounter as a “space writer.” Continue reading →

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More Changes to Report and Reflections on the Future

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Bart Leahy

Last month saw me in a bit of a flurry as I was informed that my long-time customer had decided not to renew my contract. Panic! Weep! Wail! I probably needn’t have gotten so stressed out, but a career shift is not easy, especially if you’ve gotten comfortable with it. This month I experienced more changes as I moved from one mode of contracting to another and contemplated what to do next. Continue reading →

Posted in careers, consulting, education, freelancing, job hunting, personal, workplace | 3 Comments