Technical Writers - Responsibilities, Qualifications, and Career Prospects

So, you are a gadget freak and you have a mind that turns on the magic of all the new mobile phones, computers and laptops, and software applications that are introduced in the market. Your friends come to you to understand how to use the latest high-tech product that has just been imported because you are an effective communicator and can explain them the features quite well. You have a good vocabulary, good grammar, and you can write quite well too. Well, you are all set to become a Technical Writer and do very well in the field too.

A Technical Writer may also be referred to as an Information Designer, a Technical Content Developer or a Technical Author. Basically, a technical writer is a content writer who specializes in writing and designing documentations for latest technologies, gadgets, and applications in an engaging and easy-to-understand manner for general readers. Thus, he/she first needs to understand the technical information with all the typical scientific jargon himself, and then interpret it and explain it to others.

What Job Responsibilities does Technical Writing Entail?

Technical writers are people who write user guides, operating guides, reference manuals, and training guides. They are also the ones who incorporate online help to your favorite software applications and prepare interactive tutorials and software demos for your assistance in the form of PowerPoint presentations, graphical material, illustrations, and even videos at times.
The exact nature of work for a technical writer varies with the type of industries they are employed in, but typical job responsibilities are:

• Analyze functional and technical specifications of products, equipments, gadgets, machinery, automobiles, or software and understanding their documentation requirements.
• Research, design, illustrate, write, revise, and edit high quality and user-friendly print documentations and interactive manuals for end users to teach them how to operate and maintain the products of the company.
• Design and develop PDF-based documents, Online Help, Knowledge Base, and Frequently Asked Questions for internal and external audiences of the company.
• Design and implement new learning tools or knowledge dissemination tools to promote products in the target markets.
• Write, edit, and review sales collaterals, white papers, and business proposals.
• Work with clients to understand their project requirements, translate them to technical specifications, and define them for development and implementation teams.
• Create and maintain project plans and status reports for management and cross-functional teams.
• Write search engine optimized (SEO) website content, articles, blogs, press releases, and forum posts to promote the software applications, gadgets, or products of the company and strengthen customer relationship of the company.

How Can You Become a Technical Writer?

An analytical bent of mind and the ability to understand complex technical documents and programming logic, and an excellent command over the English Language (or the region language in which the manuals are to be prepared) with good comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar are two of the main requirements of the technical writing field. Experience in writing user and service manuals for high-tech electronics products is of course an added advantage.

Other skills employers look for in a technical writer are strong proofreading abilities, verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills, desktop publishing skills, expertise in the subject matter or targeted products and software of the company, and familiarity with latest designing, printing, and finishing technologies and applications in the market. Technical writers should be proficient in the use of Windows desktop publications. Knowledge of MS Office, Adobe Frame Maker 7.0, Adobe Acrobat 8, HTML, XML, Adobe Robo Help 8, Snag IT 7, and ASP is a strong plus.

Though, graduation or post-graduation is not a must to become a technical writer, a degree in English Literature, Mass Communications, or Print Journalism can improve your chances of landing a job soon. A science degree or technical background improves your chances too. IT industry may look for technical writers with programming knowledge and a degree in Computer Science or Information Technology while a manufacturing plant may look for information designers and technical authors who have an engineering degree in their particular field. In fact, many technical writers hold a B.E., B.Tech or MCA degree. There are institutes that offer specialized courses on Technical Writing and Information Design, which can be very useful to hone your skills.

Which Institutes Offer Courses in Technical Writing?

• Wikiversity, an open source learning source offers Level 1 and Level 2 courses in technical writing, along with a workshop on writing system requirement specifications.

The Level 1 course covers:

1. Technical writing overview
2. Audience Analysis
3. Researching Information
4. Structuring Information
5. Writing Clearly
6. Collaborating
7. The Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

The Level 2 course covers:

1. Technical Writing Strategies
2. Presenting Information
3. Documentation Project Management
4. Documentation and Translation Tools
5. Types of User Documentation
6. Document Design
7. Documentation Cost and Schedule Estimating
8. Internationalization, Localization and Globalization
9. User Interface Design

• The 12-week Professional Technical Writing course offered by online-learning.com teaches you how to create single-source documents using XML - a skill highly in demand in the profession! The program also teaches you how to write and revise technical reports and manuals.

• Technowrites, based in Pune and Bangalore offers 100% job-oriented technical writing training programs and has an 80% placement record. It offers internships to students who perform well in the programs.

• The TWB Institute of Bangalore has online learning centers in Coimbatore and Mysore too. Its unique 1-year and 2-year full-time Dual Post Graduate Program in Technical Communication and Business Administration are recognized by UGC. The 2-year program teaches about Technical Writing, Instructional Design, and Business Communication as well as offer MBA with specialization in Information Technology. The TWB Technical Communication programs come with an assured internship for three months at TWB or one of the Fortune 500 companies. During the internship, students are paid a stipend of Rs 15,000 per month on an average. Good candidates are offered placements with a starting package of at least Rs 3.8 lakhs per annum. The highest salary package offered to a technical communicator passed out from TWB is more than 10 lakh rupees per annum. Students need to have a minimum of 55% marks in their graduation to apply for these programs.

• The Certificate Course of S. A. International in Chennai offered in association with Simon Fraser University, Canada includes a paper in Technical Writing.

• The Mass Communication program of the Calicut University has an optional paper in Technical Writing.

• Professional associations such as TWIN (the Technical Writers of India), Society for Technical Communication (STC), TechComm, and TECHWR-L and several institutes have launched professional and certificate courses in technical writing too.

• Several foreign universities offer Masters Degree courses in technical writing too, such as the University of Portsmouth, the Sheffield Hallam University, and the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC). However, they can be quite expensive by Indian standards.

Where to Find Job as a Technical Writer?

Technical Writing is emerging as a niche profession recently. It has several specializations and professionals employed in IT and other high-tech industries as technical writers may be known by the names of documentation specialists, technology journalists, instructional designers, Marcom specialists, proposal and resume writers or simply, copywriters. The expanding scope of scientific and technical information includes new discoveries and latest developments in the field of science and technology and related laws and the need for interpreting it for a wider audience in increasing day by day.

Automobiles, avionics, online gaming industry, chemicals, automation, nuclear energy, government, transport, utilities, power stations, finance, quality assurance, manufacturing plants, and medical and pharmaceutical supply industries and sectors - all need field experts who can write training manuals and user guides for general users. Computing, engineering, defence, and telecommunication firms often have a team of in-house technical writers but there are technical publishers and research organizations that hire freelance technical writers too, who are paid on project basis.

How Much Can You Earn As a Technical Writer?

The salary for a fresher in India is generally around Rs 10,000 to Rs 14,000 per annum. The lowest stipend offered to a trainee can be around Rs 5,000 per month while the highest compensation that might be offered to a technical writer who is just starting can be as much as Rs 15 lakhs per annum. A Technical Writer with 2-3 years of experience or more typically earns around Rs 35,000 per month while the best paid technical writers in the industry make around Rs 51 lakhs every year!

As a technical writer, you can easily work part-time. Home-based jobs and freelance opportunities are aplenty in the field of technical writing. Most of the time, a technical writing job is desk-based but you may have to travel occasionally to meet clients or development teams to understand what is required.

Career Growth Prospects of a Typical Technical Writer

A Technical Writer or Communicator can move on to become a Senior Technical Writer in two to three years and a team leader in about five years' time. They can then become editors or managers in the next few years in technical writing or allied areas such as training, information management, quality assurance, customer service, or even project management.

Some larger organizations have very senior positions like the Director of Technical Communications or Chief Knowledge Officer too. Technical writers may easily move on to become business analysts, information architects, science and technology journalists, usability specialists, medical writers, and consultants. The growth potential really depends on performance and dedication level of an individual and the kind of opportunities one gets.

Source: Shiksha Team

Date: 26th November, 2010

For further details about related courses and colleges please click below:

Related courses and colleges

Which Institutes Offer Courses in Technical Writing?

• Wikiversity, an open source learning source offers Level 1 and Level 2 courses in technical writing, along with a workshop on writing system requirement specifications.

The Level 1 course covers:

1. Technical writing overview
2. Audience Analysis
3. Researching Information
4. Structuring Information
5. Writing Clearly
6. Collaborating
7. The Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

The Level 2 course covers:

1. Technical Writing Strategies
2. Presenting Information
3. Documentation Project Management
4. Documentation and Translation Tools
5. Types of User Documentation
6. Document Design
7. Documentation Cost and Schedule Estimating
8. Internationalization, Localization and Globalization
9. User Interface Design

• The 12-week Professional Technical Writing course offered by online-learning.com teaches you how to create single-source documents using XML - a skill highly in demand in the profession! The program also teaches you how to write and revise technical reports and manuals.

• Technowrites, based in Pune and Bangalore offers 100% job-oriented technical writing training programs and has an 80% placement record. It offers internships to students who perform well in the programs.

• The TWB Institute of Bangalore has online learning centers in Coimbatore and Mysore too. Its unique 1-year and 2-year full-time Dual Post Graduate Program in Technical Communication and Business Administration are recognized by UGC. The 2-year program teaches about Technical Writing, Instructional Design, and Business Communication as well as offer MBA with specialization in Information Technology. The TWB Technical Communication programs come with an assured internship for three months at TWB or one of the Fortune 500 companies. During the internship, students are paid a stipend of Rs 15,000 per month on an average. Good candidates are offered placements with a starting package of at least Rs 3.8 lakhs per annum. The highest salary package offered to a technical communicator passed out from TWB is more than 10 lakh rupees per annum. Students need to have a minimum of 55% marks in their graduation to apply for these programs.

• The Certificate Course of S. A. International in Chennai offered in association with Simon Fraser University, Canada includes a paper in Technical Writing.

• The Mass Communication program of the Calicut University has an optional paper in Technical Writing.

• Professional associations such as TWIN (the Technical Writers of India), Society for Technical Communication (STC), TechComm, and TECHWR-L and several institutes have launched professional and certificate courses in technical writing too.

• Several foreign universities offer Masters Degree courses in technical writing too, such as the University of Portsmouth, the Sheffield Hallam University, and the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC). However, they can be quite expensive by Indian standards.

Where to Find Job as a Technical Writer?

Technical Writing is emerging as a niche profession recently. It has several specializations and professionals employed in IT and other high-tech industries as technical writers may be known by the names of documentation specialists, technology journalists, instructional designers, Marcom specialists, proposal and resume writers or simply, copywriters. The expanding scope of scientific and technical information includes new discoveries and latest developments in the field of science and technology and related laws and the need for interpreting it for a wider audience in increasing day by day.

Automobiles, avionics, online gaming industry, chemicals, automation, nuclear energy, government, transport, utilities, power stations, finance, quality assurance, manufacturing plants, and medical and pharmaceutical supply industries and sectors - all need field experts who can write training manuals and user guides for general users. Computing, engineering, defence, and telecommunication firms often have a team of in-house technical writers but there are technical publishers and research organizations that hire freelance technical writers too, who are paid on project basis.

How Much Can You Earn As a Technical Writer?

The salary for a fresher in India is generally around Rs 10,000 to Rs 14,000 per annum. The lowest stipend offered to a trainee can be around Rs 5,000 per month while the highest compensation that might be offered to a technical writer who is just starting can be as much as Rs 15 lakhs per annum. A Technical Writer with 2-3 years of experience or more typically earns around Rs 35,000 per month while the best paid technical writers in the industry make around Rs 51 lakhs every year!

As a technical writer, you can easily work part-time. Home-based jobs and freelance opportunities are aplenty in the field of technical writing. Most of the time, a technical writing job is desk-based but you may have to travel occasionally to meet clients or development teams to understand what is required.

Career Growth Prospects of a Typical Technical Writer

A Technical Writer or Communicator can move on to become a Senior Technical Writer in two to three years and a team leader in about five years' time. They can then become editors or managers in the next few years in technical writing or allied areas such as training, information management, quality assurance, customer service, or even project management.

Some larger organizations have very senior positions like the Director of Technical Communications or Chief Knowledge Officer too. Technical writers may easily move on to become business analysts, information architects, science and technology journalists, usability specialists, medical writers, and consultants. The growth potential really depends on performance and dedication level of an individual and the kind of opportunities one gets.

Source: Shiksha Team

Date: 26th November, 2010

For further details about related courses and colleges please click below:

Related courses and colleges