Technical Writing
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by Allan Hoffman
To some people, any job with the word "writer" in the title looks like it must be a blast -- the next best thing to working on episodes of "Desperate Housewives." If spotting the job title technical writer in your job search whets your appetite to learn more, here's a guide to the profession.
Is Technical Writing for You?
"If your goal is to write a novel, this is not the job," says Saul Carliner, a former president of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), an organisation for technical writers and editors with 18,000 members in the field. "Although the finished product is something you wrote, there's a lot of collaboration. You're interviewing people. You're coordinating. Twenty to 30 percent of your time is writing."
Contrary to what many assume, working as a technical writer involves much more than sitting alone at your PC. The job requires plenty of contact with technical professionals, from programmers and project managers to machine operators and medical technicians. Solitary? Not quite. Collaborative? Most definitely.
If you're considering a job as a technical writer, one way to learn if it's for you is to spend several hours reading and reviewing computer manuals and online help systems, like those for your operating system and assorted applications. Ask yourself a simple question, Carliner suggests: "Is writing this what I want to do for a living?" Also, remember that companies use most technical documentation for internal purposes -- no one in the outside world will ever see it.
But the field has broadened to include a variety of job roles and responsibilities, as the name of its leading professional organization, the Society for Technical Communication, suggests. Technical communicators write and edit technical manuals, but their work may also include producing online tutorials, Web-based training and other materials for industries ranging from healthcare to manufacturing.
And the pay? The average salary for technical writers and editors was £35,000
