What Do Technical Writers Do?

Technical writers explain things. They translate complex information and ideas into content that can be easily understood by a particular audience from the general public to technically trained people. Technical writers create environmental impact statements, web sites, magazine articles, proposals, instructions for taking medicine, training manuals for pilots, repair manuals for blood analyzers, instructions for using VCRs, online help for computer software, assembly instructions, newsletters, on-screen instructions for using your bank's ATM machine, specifications, user's guides for telephone answering machines, instructions for making microwaved popcorn, computer manuals, and many other types of documentation. Technical writers work in every industry, from automobiles to computers to finance to health care. At one time, technical writers were primarily wordsmiths. Austin Brown began his technical writing career in Alaska in 1961, before the computer and the photocopier were commonplace. Writers used a pencil or an ink pen and wrote words on paper, he recalls. The paper was handed to a typist who used a typewriter to type the words. Documents were printed using a method called offset lithography. The word processing and desktop publishing software applications that we use today weren't introduced until the early 1980s.  

In 1988, Brown retired from his position as head of the Technical Publications Branch of the Naval Surface Weapons Center in Virginia. Brown is now semi-retired and a communications consultant in Hawaii. Today he and his colleagues use not only words, but also illustrations, photographs, video, and computer-based multimedia. Now more than ever, technical writing is a craft that combines science, technology, and the humanities. Today's technical writers are also called information architects, analysts, technologists, developers, designers, and engineers; web masters; technical communicators and editors; procedure writers; and documentation specialists. Whatever they are called, their objective is the same as always: to convey scientific and technical information concisely, accurately, and clearly.

Why Are Technical Writers in Demand?

Demand for technical writers is expected to continue to increase as technology continues to become more and more a part of our lives. Popular consumer magazines identified technical writing as a hot career as early as 1983 (Ebony) and as recently as 1996 (Working Woman and Black Enterprise). According to the 1998-99 Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of writers and editors is expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations (that is, increase 21 to 35 percent) through the year 2006. The handbook also says that through the year 2006, opportunities will be good for technical writers because of the more limited number of writers who can handle technical material. The handbook says that online publications and services, which are relatively new, will continue to grow and require an increased number of writers and editors.

The number and variety of technical communication opportunities have enabled Angela Taylor, now a technical writer for IBM in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, to thrive as a technical communications writing contractor for the last 16 years. A contractor is an employee that a technical service agency hires to work for various companies for a specified period of time, Taylor explains. The agency matches the contractor's skills with the position that the company needs to fill. It's analogous to an actor being hired to portray a particular character on a television show for just a few months. Taylor has worked under contract for periods as short as six months. Her current contract was supposed to last for only three months, but she has earned multiple extensions that have spanned more than five years and two states.

What Salaries Do Technical Writers Earn?

The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is an individual membership organization that is dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. With 22,000 members worldwide, STC is the largest organization of its type.

The STC 1998 Technical Communicator Salary Survey reported that the average annual salary of entry-level U.S. STC members was $36,100. The average annual salary of all U.S. STC members (all levels) was $48,250. Ten percent of U.S. STC members with 11 years or more of experience in technical communication earned more than $71,640 annually. See the STC web site for more salary information (http://www.stc-va.org). The handbook mentioned earlier reported that the average annual salary for technical writers and editors in the federal government in non-supervisory, supervisory, and managerial positions was about $47,440 in 1996; other writers and editors averaged about $46,590.

The second edition of Peter Kent's book The Technical Writer's Freelancing Guide, now titled Making Money in Technical Writing, has this tagline on its cover: Turn Your Writing Skills Into $100,000 a Year. Kent believes that it is fairly easy for a freelance technical writer to make $70,000 a year, and he says that he has met technical writers earning $150,000 and up. See the web site for his book at http://www.mcp.com/mgr/arco/techwr.

Taylor says she gets frequent calls from recruiters at technical service agencies. If you have the skills that an agency is looking for, Taylor says, the principles of supply and demand apply. You can almost name your own price. Rates will vary depending on where the job is located and the level of skill and experience needed. The living-on-the-edge aspects of contracting appeal to Taylor, as does the opportunity to travel and experience the various lifestyles of different parts of the country. Contracting is good for those who like something different and a challenge and don't want to be locked in, Taylor says. Also, it's a way to get an inside look at how a company operates before you take a permanent position there.

What Should Prospective Technical Writers Study?

Since the 1950's, when the first technical communication degree programs were offered, the number of colleges and universities offering courses as well as two-year, four-year, and graduate degrees in technical communication has been increasing. Today, you can even enroll in Internet-based distance learning programs for technical communication. The increases in the number of opportunities for education in technical communication are reflected in the following statistics. In 1974, 24% of STC members had studied English in school, 10% had studied journalism, 2.9% had studied technical communication, and 38% had studied science or engineering. In 1995, 42% of STC members had studied English in school, 10% had studied journalism, 23% had studied technical communication, and 19% had studied science or engineering. As you can see, a technical writing degree has never been a prerequisite to entering the technical writing profession. Also, no type of certification or licensing of technical writers is required. If you want to be a technical writer (and even if you do not), some post-high school education is strongly recommended. The majority of the respondents to the STC salary survey mentioned earlier have college degrees. 

Technical Writing? If you are pursuing a degree in graphic design, communication, journalism, language arts, or English-and if you are interested in lifelong learning about science and technology-a career in technical writing might be ideal. Take elective courses in computer science, natural sciences, math, statistics, management, business administration, human-computer interaction, or engineering. In some cases, if you have good writing skills, you can obtain specialized knowledge on the job. That's what the author of this article did after receiving a BS in Communication with a specialization in technical writing from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. When I joined a company that made blood analyzers and other equipment used in medical laboratories, I was sent to numerous in-house training courses.

Science and Technology? Another option is that you can major in a scientific or technical subject area of your choice while taking elective courses in communication, technical writing, English, composition, illustration, journalism, graphic design, management, business administration, or human computer-interaction. According to the handbook mentioned earlier, some future technical writers transfer from jobs as technicians, scientists, or engineers. Others begin as research assistants, editorial assistants, or trainees in a technical information department, and then develop technical communication skills, and then assume writing duties.

Tips On Finding a Technical Writing Job

Author Kent, whose book is mentioned earlier, says that if he was new to the profession and trying to find a technical writing job, the first thing he would do is join the Society for Technical Communication and start networking. You will meet people who hire technical writers, and people who know who is hiring technical writers and where the jobs are, he says.

STC has members in every state in the U.S. and in more than 30 other countries. The states with the most STC members are, in descending order, California, Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Ohio. (The STC web address appears earlier in this article.) Semi-retired communications consultant Brown agrees with Kent. I've been an active member of the society for 30 years, he says. In addition to the networking benefits, STC provides leadership opportunities, and educational programs and publications that help you increase and enhance your skills. Brown was STC's only African-American president; he served from 1988 to '89. Kent also recommends using the Internet in your job search. His book describes useful web sites, mailing lists, and newsgroups too many to list here. (See his web site address, earlier in this article.)

Getting work experience before graduation puts you a step ahead of other job applicants. Just as for other positions, having a technical writing co-op job or internship while in college is highly recommended. Also consider part-time freelancing or consulting. Even if you don't get a technical writing job while in college, you should create a portfolio of your classwork to show potential employers. Include in it your best communication assignments; remember web sites and multimedia projects. If you think your portfolio is lacking examples of the type of work you would do if you were hired, make some. You can write procedures, reports, articles, or user's guides about your hobbies or interests and thereby prove that you write well and that you can gather information, organize it in a useful structure, and present it meaningfully. Your examples will also show that you have initiative and need little supervision; characteristics employers want their job applicants to have.

The Medium Formerly Known As Print

When the author of this article began her career in 1977, the vast majority of technical communication was in printed form. That has changed. For example, Apple Computer Company does not provide printed manuals with its new iMac computer, launched in August 1998.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, technical communication now encompasses printed documentation plus online documentation, including help systems; computer-based instruction, including multimedia; video; and web-based publishing. Because of the recent emergence of affordable new technologies for communicating information, technical communicators are more and more likely to be members of their company's product development teams. Technical communicators have a longstanding role as user advocate (that is, customer advocate); therefore, their input is sought on product definition, methods of development, usability activities, and all types of communication and training products. Technical communicators are collaborating with other user-oriented disciplines or are managing these new roles themselves.

If you want to combine an interest in science and technology with writing and people skills, the dynamic world of technical communication needs you. Abundant opportunities, satisfaction, and reward await you.