• Grant Writer - New Jersey
• Proposal Writer - Fort Worth, TX
• SOP Writer - Piscataway, NY
• Specification Writer - Melville, NY
• Sr Technical Writer - Irvine, CA
• Technical Editor/Writer - Ohio
• Technical Writer - Alphretta, GA
• Technical Writer - Austin, TX
• Technical Writer - Baltimore, MD
• Technical Writer - Bellevue, WA
• Technical Writer - Chicago, IL
• Technical Writer - Chicago, IL
• Technical Writer - Jersey City, NJ
• Technical Writer - Mission, KS
• Technical Writer - Mountain View, CA
• Technical Writer - New Jersey
• Technical Writer - Palo Alto, CA
• Technical Writer - Philadelphia, PA
• Technical Writer - San Diego, CA
• Technical Writer - Washington, DC
• Technical Writer - Wilsonville, FL
• Technical Writer III - Troy, MI
• Technical Writer Twin Cities, MN
• Technical Writers - Columbus, OH

Please take a look at my new article on Writing and Sustainability over at poewar.com. Are you using more than your creating?

• Technical Writers — Ohio
• Technical Writer / Editor — Irwindale, CA
• Technical Writer — Washington, PA
• Technical Writer — Santa Clara, CA
• Technical Writer — Falls Church, VA
• Technical Writer/ Procedures Coordinator — Sacramento, CA
• Technical Writer — Overland Park, KS
• Technical Writer — Hartford, CT
• Technical Writer — Melbourne, FL
• Technical Writer — Keller, TX

Check out my new fiction writing article about descriptions in your stories:The Fiction Description Prescription

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A technical writer’s primary job goal is to present specialized information to an audience. There are several important steps to the process, however, an individual writer may not be a part of all of these steps. These are the steps required to create useful documentation:

1. Analyze the information or data
2. Determine the audience’s needs
3. Determine the documents required to meet the audience’s needs
4. Design the documents and present the information or instructions
5. Test the documentation to determine if it meets the needs of the audience
6. Edit the documentation
7. Publish the documentation
8. Revise the documentation as necessary throughout the lifecycle of the project

Often, a writer finds that they are working on only one or two segments within the documentation path. A writer may take a job in which they work primarily as a document editor, or they find work revising existing documentation. This can lead to different job titles. A person may spend the majority of their time performing audience analysis and acquire a title as a usability designer or an information architect. The person who primarily edits/revises documents might be called a documentation editor or technical editor. A skilled technical writer, however, must be prepared to execute the entire documentation process.

What a Technical Writer Writes

The range of writing a technical writer performs covers a wide range of projects. You may find yourself a part of one large project, or overseeing dozens of smaller projects. You might write wen help, manuals, articles, proposals, white papers, product descriptions or any of a hundred other types of documents. Common documents types include:

Instructional Guides

Instructional guides come in a wide variety of types such as: user manuals, user guides, handbooks, how-to guides, set-up guides and quick start guides. Instructional manuals can be as short as a single page or longer than a thousand pages. The purpose of an instructional guide is to teach a user how to perform a task or a set of tasks. A single project can generate several instructional manuals. For example, a new relational database program may come with quick-start sheet, a user’s manual, an administrator’s guide and a programmer’s handbook. All of these are very different documents, but they all come under the heading of instructional guide.

Informational Material

Informational material also covers a wide number of documents such as reference books, datasheets, application notes, FAQs (Frequently asked questions), white papers and process analysis. The purpose of these documents is to provide information more than instruction. The previously mentioned relational database program might include a reference book that lists the database commands and what they are used for. It may also include a datasheet that lists the application size, available platforms, limitations and known conflicts/issues.

Business Communications

Businesses communications are not necessarily technical communications, but a large segment of technical writing is deeply involved with business communications. These communications take the form of proposals, service level agreements (SLAs) and standard operating procedures (SOPs). For example, a business may want to use an outside vendor to provide call center services for their new product. The first document they would create is a request for proposals (RFP) that describes what services they need and invites other companies (vendors) to submit a proposal. Prospective vendors will then submit proposals. These proposals are both a sales tool and a technical document that provides details about how the vendor intends to provide the service. Once a vendor has been chosen, they must contractually agree to the provision and division of services. This agreement is an SLA. It describes what each company is responsible for providing and maintaining.

SOPs are much like instructional guides because they define how to perform a task, but in business they are generally more restrictive. That is because an SOP may be binding. In other words, if an employee fails to follow an SOP they may be fired or reprimanded. If a company fails to follow an SOP they may lose a contract and be liable for damages.

A Technical Writer’s Skill Set

Becoming a technical writer involves the mastery of a set of skills. A carpenter must master hammering, drilling and sawing. A technical writer must master writing, technology, tools and other skills.

Writing Skills

The first skill a technical writer should have, of course, is writing. You should be able to write in a clear, concise manner. Technical writing is not poetry or prose. Depending on where you work, you may or may not be able to add some stylistic flair. Either way, your job is to clearly tell your audience exactly what they need to know, and everything they need to know.

Technical Skills

The second skill you should have is knowledge of a technical subject. My emphasis has always been in the field of computers, which is probably the largest segment of the technical writing market. Your knowledge can be in many other areas, however, such as science, medicine, engineering, mechanics, or law.

Tools Skills

No matter what your area of knowledge, you will need tool/computer skills, especially desktop publishing skills. At minimum, you should know the Microsoft Office suite of applications, especially Microsoft Word. Beyond Office, there is Adobe FrameMaker, which is used in many technical-writing environments. Other publishing packages such as PageMaker, Quark Express, and Interleaf can also be useful. In addition, online documentation tools such as RoboHelp, Doc-to-Help and Lotus Notes are great applications to have on your resume, as are HTML and other Internet skills.

Other Skills

You should try to develop interviewing skills, because you will probably find yourself interviewing technical people to get the information you need for your documents. Often, they will have no idea how to tell you what you need to know, so it is up to you to figure out how to draw the information out of them.

Visual design is another key tool for document development. Technical documents are not composed of just text; they contain graphics such as tables, icons, visual aids, schematics, graphs and charts. Knowing how to work with these visual tools is a key to creating a quality user experience.

Usability and testing skills are also valuable to a technical writer. It is important to learn how to test documentation to make it better. Learning the basics of usability testing will aid you when it comes time to test your own work and to incorporate the results of those tests.

Desktop Publishing Tools

The production of printed documents using a computer is called desktop publishing. At its most basic, desktop publishing requires a computer, a printer, and some sort of text or graphics program. While you can achieve desktop publishing using something as simple as a word processor, the applications used by technical writers are often more sophisticated and expensive than those used for common office applications. Because technical documents are often longer and more graphically complex than general business or personal documents, they require programs that are designed to handle these tasks. When technical writers do use common office applications, they are frequently required to use features that most users never need. For example, Microsoft Word has index and table of contents tools. Those tools aren’t very flexible and can be difficult to use, but if Microsoft Word is the only desktop publishing application at your disposal you may find yourself putting those tools to use.

Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker is a desktop publishing program developed specifically for the writing of long, technical documents. FrameMaker has three main sets of features that make it a great tool for technical writers.

1. FrameMaker’s book features help you to work with long documents by dividing them into chapters within a single book. This allows for the creation of cross-references, indexes and a table of contents. In addition, you can assign styles and variables for the entire book.
2. FrameMaker’s template features provide for the creation of multiple templates that can be applied to different pages in the same document through the use of master pages and reference pages. For example, you can apply different page templates for your cover, front matter, body pages, chapter pages, glossary, index and back matter.
3. FrameMaker’s graphics handling allows you to attach graphics to individual paragraphs. This makes it easier to add new text without worrying about how it will flow around the graphics.

While FrameMaker is a powerful, useful program for technical writers, it is not without drawbacks. FrameMaker is harder to use than a word processor and requires a different, more systematic approach to document creation. Learning to use all of the features takes time and commitment. It is possible to create a memo or a quick note with FrameMaker, but that is not what it is built for.

Other page layout applications: Adobe PageMaker, Quark Express

Microsoft Word / Office

Microsoft Word is not a bad tool for technical writing, but it isn’t a good tool either. The primary appeal of Microsoft Word is its universality. Almost every office computer has this program. This means that you can write a document and send it to anyone else involved in the project and they can work directly with the document. Of course, many writers would prefer than no one else touch their document, but that is a different issue. Microsoft Word can also come in handy when you need to create small documents quickly, especially those that will be importing information directly from other Microsoft Office programs such as Excel, PowerPoint and Access.

The limitations of Microsoft Word are generally felt when you start to create longer documents or work with graphics. These tasks are not the application’s strengths and when documents get too complicated Microsoft Word tends to slow down, crash or “lose” information.

Technical writers are frequently called upon to use the other applications in the Microsoft Office suite. Projects are often tracked using Excel or Access, and technical writers are sometimes required to create PowerPoint presentations.

Other word processing applications: WordPerfect, Microsoft Works, Claris Works, StarOffice

Adobe Photoshop / Adobe Illustrator

Photoshop and Illustrator are both image creation and manipulation programs, but with different emphasis. Photoshop is primarily what is called a paint program. Users can color or recolor (paint) the individual pixels of an image. Illustrator is a draw program. It is oriented toward creating images using lines. In other words, if you specify that a line moves from point A to point B, Illustrator will create the line based on those points, and the user can change the line by simply changing one or both of the points. When you use a paint program, every pixel has the same importance as every other pixel.

There are advantages and drawbacks to both systems of image creation and manipulation, and both programs include some of the other’s abilities with respect to creating lines or working with pixels. The main difference between the two programs is emphasis. If you primarily need to draw, you use Illustrator. If you primarily need to work with images, especially imported images, then Photoshop is the more appropriate tool.

Other draw programs: Corel Draw, Macromedia Freehand, AutoCAD, EasyCAD
Other paint Programs: Jasc PaintShop Pro, MacroMedia Fireworks

Microsoft Visio

Visio has some of the features of draw and paint programs, but it has a much different emphasis. Visio is used to quickly create flowcharts, graphs, charts, schematics and other technical or process-based images. Visio accomplishes this by providing the user with icons, chart and line tools that can quickly be placed and connected on the page. Each icon is also set to allow the input of short descriptive text. The learning curve for this application is twofold. Not only does the user need to learn how to use the tools of the program, but they also need a firm grasp of the theories behind the creation of these images and how they are used to present information.

Other process design programs: SmartDraw, iProcess, OmniGraffle

Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat is a program that makes it possible to share documents across multiple platforms. This makes it easy to give other people a polished electronic or print copy of a document in a format that does not require that they have your base program. In other words, you can turn a FrameMaker or Visio (or other) file into a PDF file that can be viewed by people who do not own or use FrameMaker or Visio. Acrobat reformats files from other programs into PDF files. These files can be read like an online book. PDF files can be created using a number of different small programs, but most of those programs are limited in their abilities. Acrobat gives the technical writer a more expansive tool that can control a number of different document features.

PDF Reading Program: Adobe Acrobat Viewer (free)
Other PDF conversion programs: PdfEdit995, SolidConverter

Education

Education and skills development are vital to a technical writing career. While there are no set-in-stone educational requirements for a technical writer, there are very few writers in the field who do not have a college degree. There are occasional exceptions to this rule (Some companies provide in-house training, generally to employees who have lost their current position due to a restructuring such as the closing of a manufacturing plant), but for those wishing to enter the field, an academic education is essential.

Beyond the schooling needed to enter the field, technical writing is a craft that requires continuing education, from the development of writing and technical skills to the learning of new computer applications and other writing tools. Each aspect of a technical writer’s education must be maintained. Skill erosion can be a significant problem for mid-career writers, especially those who have been working for the same company for several years. Companies frequently become married to specific processes, styles and tools. As long as that writer stays with the company, they might get away with less outside education, but they eventually find that their skills are outdated or that they have become inflexible in their thinking. The beginning of a new job search is a bad time to find out your skill set is out of date.

Levels of academic education

Non-Credit Classes and Seminars:
While non-credit courses rarely go directly on your resume, these classes can often provide you with either an overview of a subject or with a specific tool skill. One example is a writer may want to take a course in desktop publishing or visual design in order to develop their skill in those areas. Another example is an technical writer who attends technical seminars at a conference in order to keep on top of the newest developments in their area.

Certification:
Many classes offer certificates of completion to their students, but that is not the same as a certification. Certification requires some sort of testing to ensure that you have reached a certain level of knowledge. Some colleges offer certification rather than a specific degree to people who take (and pass) a set of classes. As a rule, the number of classes required for a certificate from a school is less than the number required for a degree. Certificates are not limited to formal schools. Often the producers of a product, may offer training and certification for people who use that product. In some fields, this can be a prerequisite for a job, although technical writing positions seldom require certifications.

Associate’s Degree:
An associate’s degree generally requires two years of academic study. By itself, an associate’s degree rarely meets an employer’s educational requirements, but as a supplement, an associate’s degree can be very useful. A technical writer who already has a writing-related Bachelor’s degree can improve their employability by adding an associate’s degree in a technical subject. On the flip side, someone who already has a higher-level technical degree might go back and supplement that degree with an associate’s degree in a writing-related area.

Bachelor’s Degree:
A bachelor’s degree is the standard level of education for a technical writer. While many technical writers choose to move beyond a bachelor’s degree, most employers do not require a higher degree than this, especially for entry-level writers. Until recently, the number of colleges offering bachelor’s degrees in technical writing has been limited, but more and more colleges are beginning to recognize the need for this track of study.

It is a good idea to balance a technical skill and a writing skill. For example, one student might choose a major in engineering with a minor in non-fiction writing or journalism. Another student might major in English, but minor in chemistry, mathematics or computer science. The best course of action at this level is to choose a double major, in which you get both a technical degree and a writing degree.

Master’s Degree:
While a Master’s degree is not essential to becoming a technical writer, it can open up many career areas and is sometimes required in order to reach the top pay grade at a company. Again, most writers will want to use this degree to either increase their writing skill or their technical skill. Many mid-career professionals will also consider a degree in management, if they are looking to run a writing department.

While many people balk at pursuing a master’s degree due to its perceived difficulty or to the time requirement. Once they choose to pursue this degree, however, most students find the educational experience much more satisfying at this level. The appeal of a master’s level education is that it is much more focused on the area of study a student is pursuing.

Doctoral Degree:
Few technical writers choose to move beyond a master’s degree. It is much more common for a technical writer who holds one master’s degree to pursue a second master’s degree rather than a doctoral degree. Those who do choose to pursue a doctoral degree are almost always focused on technical subjects rather than writing. At this level a writer generally moves beyond what is considered technical writing and more into academic writing or research.

Finding Technical Writing Jobs

Make sure you are Qualified
Even if you have gotten a job in the technical writing industry in the past, skill sets continually change. Stay ahead of the curve. Take the time to find out what the latest tools and techniques are. Two good places to research industry trends are:

• Society for Technical Communication (STC): www.stc.org
• EServer TC Library: tc.eserver.org

Keep on top of the industry:

• Learn the latest tools
• Buy the appropriate books
• Subscribe to any industry magazines you can find (not just technical writing, but any specific specialty such as software, hardware, or engineering.
• Visit and join professional groups within the industry (Such as STC)
• Take the appropriate classes
• Get a degree if you can
• Try to find one or more mentors in the field

Unless you are actively working to make yourself the best possible candidate for the job, you are going to have trouble landing the job you want. If you are not qualified for the job you want, consider seeking a job for which you are qualified, but limit your applications to the industry you hope to grow into. It is easier to build your career from the inside than the outside.

Demonstrate Your Qualifications
If you are qualified to look for a technical writing job, you must be able to prove it. This means you must create a resume and a portfolio. There are entire books about writing resumes, so I will not detail the process here, but be sure your resume reflects the experience that qualifies you for the job you are looking for.

While some people choose to use a resume service, I believe it is better to learn how to write your own resume. You are a writer, after all. The best reason to create your own resume is that you will want the option of customizing your resume to individual job opportunities. If a company is looking for a writer who knows FrameMaker, you will want to make sure that you feature that skill on your resume. If the next company cares about HTML skills and does not ask for FrameMaker skills, you will want to make changes again. When you know what skills an employer is looking for, you need to make sure your resume reflects those skills as much as your qualifications will allow.

A technical writer or editor’s portfolio is a collection of their work samples. Again, the samples should reflect the job you are looking for. A technical writer should create a collection of technical documents they have worked on. You can do this with printed copies of your work, a CD-ROM featuring your work or a web site where you can send potential employers.

Make a Contact List
This is the step that most people try to skip over, and that is why most job searches fail. It is possible to find a job through newspaper or web site advertisements and you should use them as part of your search, but do not limit yourself to those resources. Advertised jobs have the most competition for them. The people who are willing to pick up the phone and cold-call employers are more likely to find a job than those who only apply for advertised jobs. Before you call, however, you should know the employer’s background as much as possible.

Because most technical writers work for technical companies, technology plays a major role in a technical writer’s job search. Technical companies are far more likely to take advantage of online services such as job sites and resume services than more traditional businesses. In addition, because many technical writing jobs are contract jobs, companies often use employment agencies as a recruitment tool.

Make a list of technical companies and technical employment agencies in your job search area. For this sort of search, the Internet is your best tool. Go to the major job employment web sites. A short list of leaders includes:

• Monster: www.monster.com
• Dice: www.dice.com
• HotJobs: www.mediabistro.com
• EditorJobs: www.editorjobs.com
• Craig’s List: www.craigslist.org

The mistake most people make when they go to these sites is that they simply post their resume and wait for people to come to them. While you may get a job by posting your resume, that is the most passive way to conduct a job search. An effective job search is an active job search.

Make a contact list of every employer and job agency you find that advertises technical jobs. Do not limit yourself to those listing a technical writer job. Most of these web sites will give you the information necessary to contact these potential employers, either through the phone, a website or email. If you can find a web site for these employers, take the time to explore the site and get a feel for the company.

You will want to prioritize your contact list. Put the agencies or employers that sound most promising at the top and the ones that sound least promising at the bottom. If you think a company is not for you, mark it off your list.

Some items you will want to include on your contact list:

• The size of the business or agency
• The names of any potential recruiters or other contacts
• Are they actively seeking technical writers?
• Address and phone number
• Any general thoughts about the potential employer

Once you have your contact list, get ready to make some phone calls.

Call Potential Employers
At this stage, you are actively seeking employment, but you are also looking to develop future contacts and to form relationships. This is why you must use the phone rather than e-mail or regular mail. Mail is a passive tool; the phone is an assertive tool. Sometimes, you may want to visit a potential employer in person, but that is a slower method because of travel time. In addition, it is disheartening to get dressed up to visit a potential employer only to find out that the person you want to see is out-of-town or uninterested in talking to you.

One concern many people have is their ability to “get past the receptionist” and talk to the person who makes decisions. While this may be true at a few companies, secretaries and receptionists are less common than they used to be and call screening is not as common a practice as most people fear. You may be surprised at how often the person who can hire you picks up the phone.

Be polite and friendly, but not overbearing. Let your possible employer know that you are looking for work. If they tell you they do not have any opportunities, ask them for advice or other possible contacts.

Some people will respond to your approach and be helpful and some will not. Do not worry about unfriendly people. People who are unfriendly on the phone are generally not good employers. Remember that this is a weeding-out process for you as well. You do not just want a job; you want to find the company that is best for you.

Keep making phone calls. Your goal is to get the person on the line to agree to look at your resume. With luck, they will then be interested in interviewing you. Do not get discouraged with rejections. Chances are you will receive a few rejections if you use this method. That is why you want to develop as large a list of contacts as possible.

If the person does agree to look at your resume, mail or email it as soon as possible. Then, wait about four working days, and if you have not heard back from them, call to discuss the resume. With luck, you will start to get some job interviews.

Master the Interview
Job interviews are grueling; there is no way to get around it. You have to get dressed up, which generally means looking at yourself in the mirror and wondering if this is as good as you get. You have to answer probing and sometimes stupid questions and find a way, however difficult, to present yourself as the ideal candidate.

In some cases, you have to face one person, and in other cases, you find yourself sitting across a table from five or more people. The key is to be yourself, but to be your best self. Do not lie or exaggerate your skills. Unless you are a terrific liar, the interviewer will see right through you anyway. Be positive about your abilities, but feel free to admit when an area is something you are not skilled in. An honest no will get you a better job than a dishonest yes.

A few things to remember:

• Try to get a look at the place you are interviewing at in advance.
• Find out in how the people at the company dress, and dress slightly better. Always be clean and well groomed. Do not use cologne or perfume. Just be clean.
• Bring your portfolio with you and be ready to explain it in a positive way.
• Demonstrate your knowledge of their company. Be ready to explain why you want to work for them.
• Ask when the interviewers plan to make a decision.
• Remember the names of your interviewers and get a business card from them if possible. You will need it for the next step.

Follow Up on Your Interview
Do not skip this step. Every step in this process is important, but this vital step is often ignored. As part of your job search, invest in a box of thank you cards. As soon as you get out of your interview, write a brief note on one of your thank you cards. Thank them for the interview and restate your interest in the job. Drop the card in the mail that day. Do not let yourself forget.

Call the employer/interviewer within three working days of your interview. Thank them for the interview again and ask them how the job search is progressing. If you have not heard from the company by the date they said they intend to hire someone, call again and ask if they have made a decision. Many employers do not bother to call and inform people that they didn’t get a job, and it is better to know if that is the case as soon as possible so that you can move on.

Following up on your interview demonstrates your level of interest to the employer and keeps you in their thoughts. Don’t be an annoyance, but make sure that they know you want the job.

Go Back to the Beginning and Start Over

Until you get a job, you continually need to renew your job search. After your initial research, try to contact at least five potential employers each week. If you are running out of possible employers, you need to expand your search either by considering employers you passed on before or by expanding your geographic search to include new locations and markets.

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