Career education

A technical writer needs to emphasize a number of different things in his resume when looking for a job.

Let’s go over the important parts of a resume briefly:

1) The NAME BLOCK should come first. It should include Name, Last Name, Mail Address, E-Mail, Phone, Web Site, and any other means of contact.

2) This should be followed by a MY GOAL or JOB OBJECTIVE block in which you should clearly and plainly express the purpose of your resume. What kind of a job you’re looking for? This should be specific. The best is to make it exactly match the company’s job title and description.

Example: “I’m looking for a job as a technical writer.”

Better: “Technical Writer Level-2 with ABC Corporation developing user manuals and help files.”

3) WORK EXPERIENCE comes next. List all your RELEVANT work experience, starting from the latest. Lead with the employment period, job title, company name, city and state, and specifics of the position.

Example: “I worked four years for ABC Corp and then resigned and started to work ACME Corp. as a technical writer until now.”

Better:

“2005-Current, Junior Technical Writer
ACME Corp., Providence, RI
Wrote user manuals. Interviewed subject matter experts.

2003-2005, Senior Technical Writer
ABC Software, Reston, VA
Wrote user manuals, system admin guides. Interviewed subject matter experts. Designed quick installation guides. Helped with developing corporate documentation guidelines.”

4) EDUCATION should follow next. List the years in which you’ve received your major degrees, followed by degree, school, and location; always starting with the last degree and accomplishment.

Example: “I graduated as an English Major from University of Texas in 2000 then went to Univ of Chicago to get my Masters in Documentation Analysis.”

Better:

“2002, M.A. in Documentation Analysis
Department of Technical Communication
University of Chicago
Chicago, Ill.

2000, B.A. in English
Department of English
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX”

5) You can follow this by your AWARDS, important SOCIETY and CLUB MEMBERSHIPS, and all the other facts that’ll make you look good in the eyes of a prospective employer.

Example:

AWARDS and MEMBERSHIP

“2007, Technical Writer of the Year, Greater Boston Industrial Council, Boston, Mass.

2005, Excellence Award, STC Technical Document Competition, Arlington, VA

1998-2008, Senior Member, Technical Writers of North America”

6) (Optional) A list of writing and page design SOFTWARE you are familiar with.

7) You can also include a REFERENCES section if the prospective employer asks for it. In general it suffices to include the note: “References available upon request.”

By: Ugur Akinci

The immediate reward of writing college textbook supplements — instructors’ manuals, student study guides, test question, lecture outlines and the like — is the money that goes into your bank account, usually $25-$100 book for each hour you work.

However, having one or more college textbook supplements on your resume or c.v. will boost your chances of career advancement in other areas, especially if you are in the teaching profession.

Here are the four main ways writing college textbook supplements will boost your career.

Increase Chances of Getting a Better Job

Many supplement writers are part-time faculty at a community college or a university. I was a part-time instructor at the community college level for several years, so I know what it’s like, and I know that most part-time instructors would love to be full-time instructors. Hiring committees, whether for community colleges, teaching-focused four-year colleges, or research-focused universities, are impressed that you have written textbook supplements. It shows you are active in education beyond just teaching, it shows you have initiative, and it shows you can tackle and complete large projects.

Increase Chances of Getting Tenure or Promotion

Of course, if you already have a full-time teaching gig, you want tenure, and beyond that, you want promotions. Textbook supplements are impressive to promotion committees for all the reasons discussed above.

Other Writing Possibilities

You likely have other writing interests besides doing work in educational publishing. Having textbook supplements on your writing résumé will make it easier to convince publishers — be they newspaper, magazine, Internet, or book publishers — that you can do quality work and follow a project through to completion.

Get a Job with a Textbook Publisher

Writing supplements is a good way to get to know people in the textbook publishing industry. You may decide you’d like to work for one of the publishers in editorial, marketing, or sales. It really helps when your publishing credits show you have experience in the field, and you’ll also know editors that can recommend you for jobs.

By: John Soares

Have you ever wondered who writes all those instruction manuals, owner’s manual and instruction booklets that accompany your computers, exercise machines, power tools, computer software and even your universal remote control? Introducing the techie side of a product or service and teaching the how-to procedures is the job of a technical writer. It’s one of the fastest growing job markets today and good, experienced talents are always in demand. If this is your dream job, learn more about what it takes to have a successful technical writer career:

What You Do
As a technical writer, your responsibility would be to research, analyze, obtain, plan and deliver data and other information in a specific and orderly manner to make it understandable to the target market. You also need to prepare written documentation that delivers technical information in a clear and concise manner.

Requirements
A good grasp of the written language is an important requirement for a successful career and so is the ability to translate an idea or concept into a series of detailed information and procedures that are easy to understand. It’s also important to have excellent research skills. In terms of education, most writers have some educational background or work experience in the industry where they work. If a technical writer creates a manual on medical procedures, for example, he/she must have a background in the medical industry. Many writers also work in fields such as medicine, biology, law, aviation, education, religion, chemistry, physics, engineering and technology. Many are also hired by government agencies.

Even if you don’t have the right background, however, you could still find jobs in technical writing online, provided of course, you can show proof of your skills and abilities in researching, writing and producing documents.

Getting The Job
Technical writers often start out as trainees or as research assistants and work from there. However, many are also freelancers, who break into the business initially by writing for smaller projects, usually for publications and websites. Once they have enough experience, technical writers can then begin looking for jobs in their chosen field by browsing jobs boards, websites and looking for leads in ads, forums and discussion boards.

By: Shanda Boyle

The educational background required in technical writing is demanding, because of the inherent difficulty of the job. It can be quite difficult to write a technical report, but with the right research and knowledge of basic report formats, you should be on your way to writing a good one. If you enjoy reading and writing, an education in Technical Writing can prepare you for an exciting career as a proof-reader, editor, or technical writer.

Online Technical Writing training may be provided by accredited and non-accredited career education schools and technical writing courses prescribe a dominant format and organization to make information readable, available, and accessible. These programs may include courses in prose, technical disciplines, advanced technical skills, and documentation, among others.

If you like explaining hard-to-understand processes and concepts in a plain language and with a consistent vocabulary, and like simplifying complex processes and make them easily accessible, then you’ll enjoy technical writing while saying goodbye to your financial worries. Unless you are already an expert in a technical field and limit the scope of your writing to that, you will probably be required to quickly learn the details of certain processes – even entire industries. Depending on where you live and the local economic conditions, you’d be surprised at the number of employers who would be willing to give a novice with no track record a head start in technical writing.

If you are the type of writer who is more creative than systemic, you will find it hard to succeed in a technical writing job. In other words, the job profile of a technical writer involves writing and designing user guides, brochures and white papers for a plethora of products.

Business plans, technical report writing, grant writing, instruction manuals, and business correspondence are just a few of the more common types of technical writing jobs available. So, in the present world of complicated gadgets, technical documentations require more than just writing. This trend, may give the Technical Writing profession the impetus it requires.

Substance is, of course, ever the more important part of technical writing. Accuracy in technical writing means that the technical writer puts out the effort to ensure that the information provided in the document is accurate. Translation in this context means that a technical writer should have the ability to gather technical information and translate it into language at the level of the intended audience.

Do not overuse humour, better still do not use it at all – People do not read technical documents to be entertained, they read them in the hopes of successfully completing a process, or extracting information. By the end of creating a piece of technical documentation, you will probably be sick of the sight of it but it has to be proof read, did you give the same screen, action part a different names in different parts of the document, all important not to do this as it confuses the reader and they are probably confused by the technology already.
To get a technical writing job you have to prove you are accurate and organized in everything you do. When you apply for a job ensure that your resume scrupulously accurate, down to the smallest details, and organized in a clear and logical way?

A tech writing manager I know developed a 30-column spreadsheet to assess technical writing candidates. Officially, I can say that technical writing has no beginning because any person could conclude “the hieroglyphics” were writings of technical calibre to communicate to an audience. All writing styles evolve over time; technical writing is no exception.

Freelance technical writers find themselves in different jobs, from the fields of healthcare, to engineering, to consumer manufacturing, to business, and then back again. Believe me I have done it, but as a job to be involved in a variety of fields and work in varied situations you cannot beat it.

By: David Odell

With an economy that is still falling, and with the rates of unemployment on the rise, there are many people who are looking to the Internet to find work. When you’re just sitting at home with nothing to do, it can get boring and monotonous, and those with technical skills may want to look into freelance technical writing. This is a great opportunity for people like you to make money writing about things you are familiar with. If you have an extensive background in a variety of fields, the possibilities are really endless.

Being a technical writer can be something rewarding and stimulating at the same time. Technical writers who have extensive knowledge can make as much as $5,000 a month, and that’s only on a part-time basis. Imagine the potential for full-time technical writers. There is a lot of money to be made in freelance technical writing for the right people.

However, not everyone has the skills needed to become a technical writer. There are certain skills needed, which include things such as time management skills, proper grammar and writing style, excellent proofreading skills to find minor mistakes as well as editing errors, along with experience using Word software.

If you are indeed interested in finding freelance technical writing opportunities, you should begin your search carefully as there are a lot of scams out there nowadays. You should also make sure that you have the desired skills needed in order to succeed as a technical writer. If you don’t meet all of the requirements or lack some of the skills, then you may not be qualified to become a technical writer. You should consider polishing up your skills to become a better writer and make sure you attain the skills that you will need.

You may also want to have a freelance technical writing portfolio to showcase your skills and some pieces of work you have done. There are several different niches and industries that you can search for opportunities in and can include places such as:

Computers Transportation services Telecommunications Science and technology Government fields Manufacturer markets

These are just a few of the many different industries that you can begin your technical writing career in. If you are new to the writing field, especially in the technical field, there are a few options available to you. You can visit blogs and technical writer websites and talk about your skills and showcase a portfolio. There are a variety of websites that are hiring for technical writers, and finding them is not that hard. More and more websites and companies are looking for writers.

You may need to start out as a research assistant and work your way up if you are new. Some sites are willing to work with you, but finding these types of companies can be a bit trickier. Once you have the required skills and experience, you are on your way to finding the perfect freelance technical writing opportunity that is right for you.

By: Vincent P. King