Jessica Murphy

• West Virginia University, MA in Professional Writing and Editing, 2012
• Technical Writer
• Administrative Technology Solutions
• West Virginia University
• Morgantown, WV

I didn’t realize how much I enjoy technical writing and editing until I took PWE courses during my last semester as an undergrad and discovered the MA in PWE program. Completing this program took a lot of time and effort, but the knowledge, experience, and friends I’ve gained made it all worthwhile. The program’s comprehensive courses provide multidisciplinary relevance, and the professors not only taught me the skills I need to excel in my career, but they also worked with me individually to explore areas of interest, find internships, and plan my career.

My internships gave me relevant experience and allowed me to make both personal and professional contacts. My teaching experience strengthened skills relevant to other areas of my life: time management, public speaking, mentoring, conflict resolution. After my first year, I completed a technical writing summer internship at Administrative Technology Solutions (ATS), a university department that provides technology-based services. During my internship, I applied the skills and knowledge I learned in the program and discovered what skills I still needed to acquire. I loved my job and my coworkers so much that I worked with my supervisor to create a technical writing graduate assistantship.

After I graduated, my supervisor hired me as a full-time temporary employee. I helped her recruit, interview, and train a summer intern who then became the graduate assistant. I keep in touch with several professors and classmates, and I intend to pursue a career in technical writing that allows me to learn new technologies and contribute to the well-being of not only the organization but the community as well.