Technical writers are professional writers compiling technical documents for a wide range of products (software/hardware) or technologies. We are also called technical communicator, information communicator, document engineer, information engineer, instructional designer, or 技术文档工程师/技术写手 in Chinese. Our deliverables include a variety of documents such as user guide, data sheets, reference guide, online help, and so on.
This site is mainly for technical writing beginners or people who want to know what we do as technical writers. As an experienced technical writer, I'll try to answer a few questions as below. I hope with the answers to these questions, you'll have a clue with respect to what we do as technical writers and see if you really want to choose technical writer as your career.
If you ask me what makes a person a good technical writer, I would say you need to have:
- Excellent language skill (English especially)
- Technical background or the ability to learn technical concept quickly
- Soft skills like communication, project management, analytical skill, interpersonal skill, and so on
- Interest in writing and technology, and you need to be a detail-oriented person
Ideally, a technical communication degree is perfect. However, to my knowledge, most technical writers in Chins either have an English (or technical communication) degree or major in a technical field such as computer science, electronic engineering, telecommunication, and so on.
Well, we can say that all the technology companies providing customer-facing information will need to have technical writers. You probably can find this position in the companies from different industries such as IT, IC, telecommunication, and so on. If you run a search on the recruitment web site, you can often see these companies recruiting technical writers (in Shanghai): IBM, HP, Microsoft, EMC, SAP, NI, NSN, Semcon, Sigma Kudos, SDI, Hisoft, Vinceinfo, Huawei, and so on.
Also, it is common that many companies choose to hire contractors/consultants or outsource their projects to vendors offering technical writing service. For example, Semcon, Sigma Kudos, and Hisoft in the list above are the companies providing writers who can work in customer premises.
For technical writers in the US:
For regular employees, the overall average U.S. salary is $78,614, according to the 2012 WriterUA Salary Survey.
If you work as contractor, the hourly rate is about $25 to $30 per hour.
More information here:
http://www.writersua.com/surveys/salary12/index.html
http://www.indeed.com/salary/technical-writer.html
http://www.school-for-champions.com/techwriting/salaries_of_technical_writers.htm
For technical writers in China:
I guess you are more interested in how much you can earn as a technical writer in China. Not a surprise that it's much less than you get paid in the US. As far as I can tell, for non-native speaker, the range is from 50K RMB to 350K RMB per year, depending on competency, experience, geographic location, industry, and so on. For more information, you can refer to a survey analysis on my blog: Survey on Technical Writing in China.
The most well-known one is Society of Technical Communication (STC). It is a professional association dedicated to the advancement of all aspects of technical communication. It provides online publications, seminars, salary database and other benefits to STC members. You need to pay about $ 200 dollars per year for the membership subscription. Luckily, up until now in 2013, if you're in China, you only need to pay $ 50 for the membership because China is recognized as the emerging country for the STC community. Note that all STC memberships are on a calendar-year basis instead of an anniversary basis. So if you have decided to join STC, it is more economic to subscribe at the beginning of a year. You can take a look at a discussion HERE regarding the STC membership among writers.
Other than STC, you can also find some technical writing communities or groups on Linkedin. And they are FREE! :)
Here are some online courses, free:
Wikiversity
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Technical_writing_courses#Topics_in_Technical_Writing
Purdue University
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/4/16/
Want to check out the latest opportunities for technical writers? Here are some links for your references if you are living in Shanghai:
- Ads for technical writers on Zhaopin.com.
- Ads for technical writers on 51job.com.
- Jobs at Linkedin.com.
Normally, a written test is in tandem with the interview. You need to demonstrate your technical writing skills or your potential to be a technical writer. The written test may consist of writing a feature, correcting or paraphrasing a few sentences, and editing a piece of document by applying general technical writing styles. Sometimes, translation is also part of the test.
Here is a simple, fundamental technical writing test for beginners: www.techwritertests.com
As to the interview, the web page in the following link gives you an example to rehearse a Technical Writer interview: Click Here.
A short, informative video about technical writer:http://web1.dol.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/cv.mov?carvidFileName=c_27-3042.00-03.mpg
A presentation entitled “Careers In Technical Communication"http://www.jpgassoc.com/techcommpowerpoint_files/frame.htm
|
Career100-Becoming a Technical Writer- An Interview with Tom Johnson:
|
TechWhirlTechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
|
Occupational Outlook Handbook by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/technical-writers.htm |