For the newbie tech writer, the game is all about giving yourself as many stand-out selling points as possible.As many have mentioned, tech writer tool knowledge (Robohelp, Flare, etc.) can be a significant selling point. For many positions, tool knowledge is the primary issue for many hiring managers. If you are not an expert in Word or if you cannot demonstrate linking topics in FrameMaker, you are out the door.Closely related to tool knowledge is knowledge of single-sourcing systems. Admittedly, single-sourcing systems are generally employed only at large and forward-thinking companies (thereby excluding most employers of tech writers). Nonetheless, if you can get your mind wrapped around the idea of writing self-contained topics, procedures, and concepts; mapping the links between these packets of data; and using the XML usually involved in single-sourcing, you will have an advantage.In addition to learing the tools, consider familiarizing yourself with concepts of intercultural communication. Since most products are shipped from America's high-context communication setting (where we expect to be told everything) to low-context cultures (where the reader expects the writer to correctly address a number of culturally-controlled topics -- or they stop reading), a little knowledge on this might help you deliver an outstanding product for your employer.One other stand-out selling point that a newbie might develop involves interviewing and researching. If you can demonstrate an ability to gather information and then interview the experts at your employer, it will be to your advantage.Finally, if you are on LinkedIn, you are obviously oriented toward networking. However, the one resource that landed me a job at Johnson Space Center and then in the oil industry when NASA was laying off was my networking through the local chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.
A technical communication blog by a technical communicator and emerging scholar.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
For the Technical Writing Newbie
In response to a request for information from a newly-graduated English major seeking work as a technical writer, I provided the following suggestions:
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Social Media and the Technical Writer's job search
Currently, I have a job as a technical writer;
therefore, I do not expect to have to seek a job anytime soon. However, in preparation for the unknown, I
have set up a profile on LinkedIn and have cultivated a set of 47 professional
connections. Using LinkedIn, I have renewed
professional connections that I started when I was more active in the Society
for Technical Communication. Additionally, I used connections established through LinkedIn to gain
the 150 survey participants for part of my thesis research. Therefore, I seem to be well on the way to
proving Noz Urbina’s point that “social media is not just for socializing” (3).
References
Urbina, N. (2010). A super-role for technical communicators. ISTC Communicator, Retrieved from http://www.farbey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ISTC_Supplement_on_Social_Media.pdf
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