I’m heading up a project within this community called LDSTech Blog. On this project, volunteer members help write and edit articles for the LDSTech Blog, pictured below.

If you’re an English major wondering how you’ll get a job after your graduate, or if you’re a creative writer sweating your time in an MFA program thinking about how to transition into the real world (that was me), this is a perfect opportunity.

People are always asking me how to break into technical writing. In fact, just tonight I was responding to someone who explained that they don’t have any experience, that they’re struggling to find an internship or entry-level position.

You know how I transitioned into technical writing? I had a job as a web copywriter for a health and nutrition startup. I wrote all kinds of content for the company, from web articles to press releases to product descriptions. I compiled my best pieces into a portfolio and brought it to my interview for a technical writing job at a financial company.

One of my articles explained how protein worked (because the health and nutrition company sold protein pills to triathletes). One interviewer read the article and was impressed by the clear, articulate way I explained protein. She herself had a PhD in biology, so this topic was something she could evaluate. I beat out a handful of other candidates precisely because I had a strong portfolio, even though almost none of it involved traditional technical writing deliverables.

If you want to transition into technical writing, or any kind of writing career, a strong portfolio will help you get a foot in the door. You need some interesting, well-written articles to influence your interviewers. If you don’t mind writing articles related to technology projects for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), and you can work remotely and use virtual tools to communicate (email, phone, skype, chat, IM, video, ec.), and you have some bandwidth to do some writing and editing this summer, and you want some serious blessings for volunteering, then this opportunity is for you.

As you write and edit articles for the blog, I’ll give you feedback and guidance and explain ways to improve your writing. Any thing you write you can include in your portfolio, and if my experience working with you is a positive one, I will write you a reference letter.

But really, only sign up for the LDSTech Blog project if you’re serious about helping out. If you’re just slightly curious and don’t have any extra cycles to write or edit content, then maybe keep the idea in the back of your mind for a future time when you’re more available.

If you are interested in getting involved, do the following:

1. Contact the local missionaries through mormon.org and get baptized right away. There are only six lessons and within 2 weeks you can …. Just kidding! You don’t have to be Mormon to work on these projects.
2. Register for an LDS Account — this gives you a login to Church sites. By the way, you don’t need to be LDS to have an LDS Account. Go to http://ldsaccount.lds.org and click Register for an LDS Account. Walk through the screens and sign up. (Skip the section that asks for your membership record number.
3. Send me your LDS Account username. I’ll then add you to the project and give you more information.

That’s it. Once you join, I’ll immediately add you to our Google Group and share a Dropbox folder with you. I’ll then ask if you’re interested in writing an article about a specific project. I’ll give you a person to call, you’ll call them, conduct a phone interview to gather information, and then write up a 500 to 800 word article. I’ll review the article and give you feedback. I’ll suggest ways you can shape the article better, and so forth. Maybe it will be perfect already. After we finalize the article, I’ll submit it through the necessary approval processes and then publish it on LDSTech.

Does this sound interesting to you? Want to get involved? Feel free to contact me at tom@idratherbewriting.com with questions. I’d love to work with you.

Note: If you’re a teacher, you could use this as an assignment for students. Even if they only write one article through the project, it could be a much more realistic experience than doing a theoretical exercise from a workbook.

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Michael Hobren

This is a guest post by Michael Hobren. Michael is a technical and “marcom” contract writer, as well as a fictional novelist. He resides with his family in the Tampa, Florida area.

As a technical writer, I don’t think my late father ever quite understood what I do for a living. I would try to explain to him what I did, but to no avail. Despite my best efforts, my explanations were typically met with dad saying, “You know, you should go into television, like Dan Rather or one of those guys.”

I never took my dad’s remark as a slight, however, but rather understood that — for his generation — the world was a much simpler place. He served for more than 20 years as a cop. In his day you were simply a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker: easy-to-understand job descriptions.

Beyond the nuts & bolts of what we technical writers do, the tools we use, and the emerging technologies we gallop to keep pace with, I wonder what we will be called within the next 10 years. As things become more specialized and job requirements evolve and are reclassified, I do not think we will be called Technical Writers for much longer. Simply put, this static handle just will not fit the wave of new development that is already upon us which we, as communications professionals, will be tasked to work with.

Rachel Zupek, writing for CareerBuilder.com, came up with a short list of job titles that did not exist ten years ago: Bloggers, Content Managers, Green Funeral Directors, Interior REdesigners, Patient Advocates, Senior Move Managers, Social Media Specialists, User Experience Analyst, and Virtual Business Service Providers.

According to another article appearing on Monster.com, “labor-market forecasters believe that tomorrow’s new jobs will have unfamiliar titles, such as Visualization Specialists, Social Network Analysts, Parenting Counselors, and Corporate Jesters, who will be paid to tell their leaders important truths that they don’t want to hear.”

One example of a new job title to emerge in the healthcare field in recent years is that of “Informatics Coordinator.” Healthcare ICs – who are typically RNs – work with the resources, devices and methods needed to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval and use of information in health and biomedicine. These nurses are nouveau writers who use many of the same tools as technical writers, combined with their background in clinical nursing, to help bring the ever-growing Mt. Everest of healthcare data into some useful focus. The days of nurses sporting white caps and uniforms, taking blood pressures and dispensing medications only, are now a distant memory.

So What Will Tomorrow’s Technical Writers Be Called?

While some of these new, euphemistic terms are already popping up on the job boards – such as Content Managers and Social Media Specialists – we still have a ways to go. So what will technical writers become in the dawning decade? Will this broad job title be phased out to make room for a new, more descriptive title? Two driving forces will foster the need for new job classifications within the next ten years: specialization and education.

A present-day example of this is how the daily news is reported. Today, large media sources, such as the Wall Street Journal, retain staff writers who hold double degrees in Journalism and Business Administration. When a full-time staffer is unavailable, a “contributing editor” is brought in to do the job, e.g., Dr. Richard Besser who regularly reports for ABC News on health-related matters, and former NSA counter-terrorism expert Richard Clarke on matters of national security, just to name two.

The technical writers of tomorrow will need to have backgrounds other than writing and a general Liberal Arts education in order to be knowledgeable and effective. An English or Journalism degree, combined with ancillary training as a Medical Technician, will be a good inroad to writing for the healthcare field. A cross-section of technical writing and Data Processing training will better enable technical writers to interact and contribute within the computer world.

Enter the ‘ZebraComms’

Of course there is a down side to becoming multi-discipline Zebra Communicators who bear too many stripes. Tomorrow’s technical writers may find their skill sets too narrowly focused, and consequently jobs that perfectly fit their profiles may be hard to find. Still, the trend toward specialization, and the education needed to stay abreast of new developments, is not going to reverse itself. As former Disney CEO Michael Eisner said, “When you’re trying to create things that are new, you have to be prepared to be on the edge of risk.”

If we continue to remain communications generalists, relying on product SMEs and others to “tell us” what needs to be communicated to a well-informed consumer base, then we relegate ourselves to being glorified stenographers with no real understanding of what we are writing about. As we move forward toward the 2020 mark, becoming ZebraComms will be the only way that we will be able to stay in the game, and to become valued strategic stakeholders in what we produce for our clients and employers. Of one thing we can be sure of, even now: time (and technology) waits for no one.

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It doesn’t amaze me that technical writer is listed in the top 50 careers. Technical writer appeared as a top 50 career in 2006 and 2009 in CNN Money. Each year there’s a lot of controversy about the description, but this year, some things are especially intriguing.

US News and World Report says as a technical writer, “you’d work with computers and electronic publishing software, including graphic design, page layout, and multimedia software.” The writer then says,

Future employment for technical writers looks bright, especially for those with strong Web and multimedia skills, according to estimates by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Compare the emphasis on web, graphic design, and multimedia skills with trends about structured authoring, XML/DITA, content re-use, and single sourcing, which aren’t mentioned. Why the discrepancy? Internal to the tech comm field, you might think the main trends are the latter. External, it’s the former.

There’s also no mention of wikis, community, content curation, or user-generated content, even though “Curator” (as in museum curator) is one of the other top jobs in the “Creative and Service” grouping.

Let’s stop and examine that “Creative and Service” grouping for a minute. The article says,

Our picks in the creative and service category this year:

• Commercial pilot

• Curator

• Film and video editor

• Gaming manager

• Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration technician

• Interpreter/Translator

• Multimedia artist

• Technical writer

If there were ever a what-the-heck moment, here it is. Why are creative and service jobs lumped together? Ask someone what a pilot, curator, heating/AC technician, translator, and technical writer have in common, and I guarantee that you’ll stump the person.

Here’s another interesting idea. The article about the grouping begins,

Not everyone wants to work behind a desk. Lucky, then, that some of the best opportunities don’t require you to sit in the office all day.

Funny, I find that this statement defines the opposite of my job. The less I move, the more productive I am.

Another interesting section of the article addresses the stress factor. In a previous CNN best careers article, technical writing was named one of the top 5 least stressful jobs in the US. Now we read,

Stress level: Moderate to high. Expect to work early mornings, late nights, and weekends to meet deadlines or coordinate with clients in different time zones. These deadline pressures and work hours can often lead to stress, fatigue, and even burnout. Extended time spent in front of computers can lead to eyestrain and back pain.

How do we jump from one of the least stressful jobs to “moderator to high stress”?

My favorite part of the article appears near the end:

Real advice from real people about landing a job as a technical writer:

Until now, reader, you’ve been reading fake advice from fake people. In this section, you get to hear some real content.

Despite the shortcomings of the article, I like the attention on web, multimedia, and graphics. This reinforces my specialization in web (WordPress and Mediawiki), screencasts, and visual graphics. It’s not that structured authoring isn’t important, but in the eyes of the user, maybe not so much.

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This is a presentation I gave at BYU Idaho last week to students interested in entering professional writing. For the accompanying slides, see this post. For the overall question I was trying to tackle, see Students Contemplate Whether a Technical Writing Career Will Be Fulfilling.

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When I started the presentation, only two of the students in the room (out of about 30) said they wanted to be technical writers. Nearly half or more wanted to be editors. I’m not sure what the rest had in mind. (The creative writers and literature students weren’t even present.) I presented about tech comm, stressing all the various specializations and perspectives of the profession that go beyond click this, select that instructional writing.

Later that evening, the conference organizers took us to a Thai restaurant in town (surprisingly good for small-town Rexburg). My wife and I sat next to the son and daughter-in-law of Terryl Givens, a well-published scholar of Mormon Studies. The other conference invitee, Lynn Stegner, author of several novels, had to leave earlier in the afternoon.

While we were talking with Terryl’s son, a student at BYU, he mentioned that his emphasis was creative writing (one of five emphases in the English major). I explained that I was a technical writer. There was a long pause, and then someone changed the subject. In mentioning technical writing, there was absolutely no sign of interest in the student’s face. It was then that I realized something.

In almost every university, the English curriculum is run by literature professors and writers who teach students from day one to appreciate, study, and ponder good literature. Writers are elevated as gods in the halls of English departments. To publish a novel is the very definition of success, the pinnacle of artistic and creative achievement. Organizing a conference in which published writers and, in this case, scholars, present essays (such as “What it means to be a writer”) and read excerpts of their works only helps us hold writers in high esteem. The entire river is flowing toward the creative direction, because that’s the focus of the English curriculum: literature, creative writing, critical theory.

Somewhere down that path, literature professors feel an ethical responsibility to help students come to grips with reality. They realize that the job market for English professors is extremely tough. Publishing a novel is even more unlikely. Becoming an editor in a major New York publishing house is also a difficult path, and one that will likely start out in poverty and secretarial work for many years.

Given this, English professors add in a few practical courses, so that students can actually use their writing and analytical skills in a financially sustainable career. They add in a few classes on business and technical writing, computers and the humanities, and scientific/technical communication. But the classes are clearly not the professor’s interest or strength. They’re an assignment given to any professor who has an inkling of background in professional writing.

The tech comm classes take a backseat to Chaucer and Postmodernism and the latest novel that the English professor is drooling over. As such, the tech comm classes live up to the student’s perception: they are, in fact, boring. The teacher isn’t engaged by the material. The assignments are corny and unrealistic. It feels nothing like any of other English course. There aren’t any stories driving the plot forward, no characters to fall in love with, no fascinating world views intricately interwoven into subtle narrative details.

In the English discipline, the flow of the river is moving towards the creative. How can we expect students to suddenly develop an interest in technical writing? To do so requires them to swim against the current, against the ideology that literature professors have inculcated so deeply into their students.

When the entire English curriculum worships and elevates authors, how will students ever develop an interest in technical writing?

If our goal is to stoke the student’s interest in tech comm, it’s a battle we will never win if we fight it on the grounds of the English hallways.

In an essay on the Heart of Technical Communication, Bill Albing suggests that the solution is to decouple the tech comm emphasis from its subordinate position in the English major, and to position it on its own, perhaps even within a business setting. Bill writes:

There is this strange and persistent association of technical documentation with writing as taught in university English curricula. We need to break the connection with university English departments because they keep monopolizing the discussion about what is the core of our profession. What makes it a discipline is the business, the business value, the use of communication to allow business to operate, to make money, to accomplish its goals. The profession is too encumbered by its historical relationship to academic institutions that are steeped in the old paradigm, instead of to business, which is quicker at evolving. With their origin in academia and their continued association, many in the profession are afraid to step out and grab the baton and continue the race. The direction of technical communication is toward more complex relationships — relationships that are allowed in business but not well understood or encouraged by academia. The sooner we break those bonds, the sooner we can reestablish much needed newer ones that will help bolster our profession.

In other words, technical communication should not be taught in the context of an English department, because tech comm is about adding business value to customers, about developing relationships with users. This is not understood or encouraged in traditional English curricula.

I agree with Bill. I used to think the problem rested with me. If I could just present technical writing in an interesting enough light, if I could just show students that there’s so much more than click-this, select-that, if I were just interesting enough myself in the way I showed my thinking processes and spontaneous analyses, I could convert students away from their futile literary dreams into a more practical, interesting, and sustainable career.

But as long as tech comm remains an emphasis within an English department — a department full of literature professors who worship fiction authors and poets, and teach students to do the same — that change of mindset will never happen. Tech comm will always be the career of last resort.

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Below are the “slides” for my presentation. I’m using WordPress rather than PowerPoint. You can actually click through the images just like you can with PowerPoint (once you are viewing the image details, click the image itself to move to the next one in the gallery). If you have any feedback about anything, let me know. I created these illustrations in Adobe Illustrator. I was actually going to insert them into PowerPoint, but I realized that when you view the PowerPoint show, it resizes the images and makes them a little blurry. Plus I’m weary of PowerPoint anyway and wanted to try something new.

Note: Several people have asked if they can use some of these images for their own slide presentations. Sure, feel free to do that. You can link back to my site with attribution if you want, but it’s not required.

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Substandard wages for senior technical writers

This week’s question comes from Mary in New York:

I am a loyal reader of your blog and have gained more from it than all the seminars and continuing ed courses I’ve taken–which cost me a good chunk of my salary.

Recently, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend which I hope you might consider blogging about. I’m an experienced technical writer currently looking for work, and I’ve been contacted by several recruiters. However, the hourly rate the recruiters want to pay me is far below my expectations for senior technical writing positions.

These recruiters want to pay $28/hr for senior technical writing positions. Many of these positions require advanced knowledge of content management systems, experience with many complex technologies such as XML, XSLT, XSL-FO, and more. I invested close to $10,000 over the past 2 years learning DITA and other XML vocabularies. In my life I have invested close to quarter of a million dollars (counting college, graduate school, conferences, and adult education) to get the necessary knowledge and training for these positions.

The salaries I’m being offered are on par with what I pay non-English speaking cleaning persons (I pay 2 sisters, each $25/hr for several hours of work each week). Clearly the recruiter is taking more than half for him or herself. (BTW: When I say recruiter, I also mean companies that represent the “contractor.” These companies hire the “Contractor,” offer no benefits and pay a sub-standard wage, while they collect twice that from the company.)

A recruiter called me today and offered me the sub-standard wage of $22.00/hr for a job that listed the above requirements AND was located in New York City! Six months ago, the wage that recruiters seemed to agree on was $35/hr. Now it is mid-twenties. Why is this happening?

Is it happening because there are writers out there who agree to those wages? Aren’t they doing the rest of us a disservice by doing so? The more recruiters are able to get writers willing to work for such wages, the greedier they get and the lower the salaries go … sometimes by 2 dollars here and 2 dollars there, but in five months it adds up. $35/hr becomes $25/hr … and now this is the first recruiter who has called me with the insulting offer of $22/hr.

I love my work as a technical writer, but I am beginning to see that I would be better off working as a cleaning person. I wouldn’t need to update my skills every 4 months, and I would get paid around the same.

My overall question is this: Do writers who work for sub-standard wages hurt the tech comm industry? If so, what can we do about it? Thanks for any insights you can provide.

I opened this question up to the professional technical writing community for responses. Some responded in a Google doc and others responded in the comments below this post.

In general, the trend among the answers is that writing is becoming a commodity that can be offshored or outsourced for low wages. Technical writers need to expand their skillsets to go beyond writing to add more value to their company. They need to be problem solvers, analytical thinkers, contributing more than just words, but also contributing to social media, user interfaces, content strategy, business analysis, elearning, information architecture, project planning, and more.

Kristi Leach points out that writing alone isn’t valued because so many feel that “no one reads the manual anyway.” As technical communicators go beyond writing and provide more value to the company, their jobs will become more secure and their salaries higher.

Other responses mentioned more contributing factors to the trend of sub-standard wages — the down economy, the principle of supply and demand, the acceptance of  ”good enough” standards.

The trend is cyclical. Sub-standard wages attract inexperienced or desperate technical writers. The deliverables they produce may reflect their inexperience or may be the product of bad working conditions that don’t allow for high quality information products. The result is a general perception that manuals, online help, and other technical writing deliverables aren’t worth much. As a result, employers continue to offer low wages for the work, even to experienced technical writers. Low wages will in turn drive experienced technical writers into other fields, such as interaction design or usability. Those who are left (the outsourced, offshored, inexperienced group of technical writers) continue to reinforce the employers’ misperceptions, and soon it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy moving the field as a whole downward.

This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it explains the growing discontent with the title “technical writer” and the reason more professionals move to other titles such as technical communicator, information developer, information designer, content strategist, and others.

Here are the responses. Thanks to everyone who participated.

_______________________________

There was a similar thing going on in 2002 when I was last going through contracting firms and recruiters. I got quoted salaries of $12.50/hr in this area, which I thought was tremendously insulting (and unlivable). The reality is that there are a number of things that are probably contributing to the situation today: the economy, a glut of displaced technical writers (as writing positions are moved to China and India), and businesses trying to keep their costs down and still provide U.S. workers an opportunity. Those employers tend to offer less to the contracting firms and the firms offer less to the candidates so they can keep their margin. By farming the search out to contracting firms, the businesses get the side benefit of not having to deal with the HR issues (and a smaller HR staff) thereby keeping costs down even more.

Unless the company with the requirement actually wants to take the cost of filling the temporary position, I doubt you’ll see much change. The hiring company may be offering what they think is a reasonable salary, but the contracting company has to take their margin from that offer, thus resulting in what you’re seeing. (Remember, this is all my opinion and I don’t represent any contracting firm by my statements.)

Julio J. Vazquez
_______________________________

I’m afraid that technical writing, as distinct from other forms of technical communication, is fast becoming a commodity. Companies can find writers who are willing to work for low wages and produce work that’s “good enough.” Increasingly, as Julio mentioned, these writers are offshore.

To continue earning a living wage, today’s technical writers need to diversify their skills. We have to market themselves as specialized editors, information architects, content strategists, and the like.

Over the long term, I hope that the people in our profession can educate employers about the bottom-line value of good technical writing. Too many companies settle for “good enough” because no one has shown them that excellent technical writing produces measurable benefits in customer satisfaction, liability avoidance, and so forth.  We have a long way to go in this area, but it’s a big point of emphasis for STC.

Larry Kunz
_______________________________

Yes, in recent years we have seen this trend developing. With the advent of collaboration platforms such as oDesk and the like, we are seeing the rate paid to technical writers becoming lower and lower not only on the per-hour basis, but also as a trend towards forcing riders to perform on flimsy per-contract bases also. I am hoping in time to see that we cannot put up with this any further, and that some kind of realistic balance may be later achieved.

[By the way, I wrote this in about 10 seconds with some voice recognition software.]

John Melendez
_______________________________

Sadly, I think this is a result of the bad economy. My husband, an aircraft mechanic responsible for keeping huge jets carrying hundreds of passengers in the air, has been forced into so many concessions, he grumbles that garbage men earn more for tossing Hefty bags into the back of a truck.

(Brief aside to sanitation workers who find my comment insulting: When you compare the knowledge and experience required to haul trash versus maintain the complex systems of a commercial jetliner, is it not reasonable to expect a higher salary for the latter? Failure at only one of these jobs can result in death.)

For many unemployed professionals, a job at any salary is better than no job, so I think the supply/demand principle is a big part of this trend. But I also believe another mitigating factor is the continued insistence that anybody can write. I face it every day. Because of that belief, employers are expecting basic writing ability in all job candidates and are getting it. That perpetuates the myth that anyone can do our jobs. I work with a writer who, after a year of unemployment, accepted a ridiculously low salary that he is now stuck with, and yet after a year of unemployment, I am sure I’d have done the same.

We need to campaign more effectively for the bigger picture, as Mary describes it… DITA, XML, the task analyses we perform, the ability to make the complex not only simple to understand but easy to apply. We design a variety of help systems, and influence interface design decisions. Many call us ‘generalists’, but I believe we are specialists in many related areas and THAT’S what commands higher pay.

Patty Blount
_______________________________

All of this speaks to a simple truth for myself: it’s why I no longer consider myself a technical writer. Here in North Carolina tech writing has taken a real backseat to disciplines like UX and IXD. The demand and the pay for these other disciplines is better, and what you do is more obviously impacting the bottom line. Yes, it requires retraining and retooling (although tech writing formed part of a natural foundation, and the skills remain useful) but it pays to follow the money trail.

I would also add that “Campaigning” for the importance of tech writing is a position of pure weakness (given it is an established profession, not nascent). If that’s what tech writers in general are faced with — and apparently it is given that I first heard people talking about it almost a decade ago — I recommend doing something else. I did, am and thankful for it.

Gary Franceschini
_______________________________

Here in the Silicon Valley, the same problem is happening. What really bothers me is the “cut” that most contract agencies extract for putting together employer and contractor. I call them Pimps, because they provide a service, but they command a much larger percentage of the “take” than their efforts warrant. After being laid off from Cisco in 2003, I worked as a contractor for a year or so, hoping to be hired back. There were only three contract agencies that had been approved to do business with Cisco, so if you wanted to play, you had to pay. They regularly billed Cisco for $100 an hour and kept half! One agency I worked with also made you work for a month, then billed them, and then, only after they got paid (usually 6-8 weeks after start date), they would pay you.

They also regularly ignored the California state laws about what constitutes a contract worker and what constitutes a temp worker. The agency that had been audited (and caught) paid the fines and followed the rules to “hire” us as temp workers, but they paid us even less (“more overhead,” they said) and we were not allowed to work overtime, so if we needed to work extra hours, it was “off the books.” Cisco eventually lost a class-action lawsuit regarding tech writers, so now I believe they are considered hourly workers, which is a drop in status.

Where I now work is a smaller company. When I started contracting for them as an individual, they asked me to join MBO Partners (http://www.mbopartners.com/), a GREAT website for consultants and contractors, and in exchange for providing billing services and timecard, insurance, a web presence, and other things, they billed an extra $3 an hour to my invoices. Employer loved not having to overpay, I loved getting my full $60 an hour, and they got a fair amount. I urge all of you to check out MBO Services and try to work through them. It is free to sign up. Eventually I was hired by the last company, and I am one of the lucky ones to have full pay and benefits. Good luck to you all.

Sandy P.
_______________________________

I am in my second tech writing gig and have only seen my pay increase, although I also moved to an area with a higher standard of living and increased cost to commute. I also lost any guaranteed benefits and have reduced time off. But I am happy with the pay increase (almost as happy as being able to voluntarily leave one job and quickly get another in a different state with a larger company), and I like the flexibility of choosing my own benefits.
_______________________________

This is a classic supply and demand problem. Lots of unemployed writers = lower wage offers. Also, I wouldn’t be so quick to blame the recruiters. I would assume that the employers are also exerting downward pressure on the rates they’re willing to pay. That is, the employer who used to pay $50/hour now wants to pay $40/hour.

The solution to this problem is to have a compelling set of skills that employers are willing to pay a premium for.

Blaming the unemployed writers is a bit harsh. $22/hour is a lot more than you might get from unemployment insurance (assuming it hasn’t run out) and it’s probably enough for shelter and food. If you’re close to losing your house, you don’t have the luxury of turning up your nose at low-ball offers.

Finally, “sub-standard” is in the eye of the beholder. I think we’re in the midst of a painful reset of salary expectation for technical writers. There are a variety of factors at work here, including high unemployment, competition from lower-cost locales, and low expectations for the work product. (That is, you may produce much better content than the $22/hour writer, but if the employer thinks that the less expensive person produces work that’s “good enough,” then your increased quality is irrelevant.)

Sarah O’Keefe, scriptorium.com
_______________________________

I agree with Sarah’s comments. A lot of it is to do with the value the employers perceive they are getting. If they don’t see the value, then they won’t pay. In the past, companies were paying for domain knowledge or specialist technical skills (in Windows Help, for example) in addition to writing skills. A lot of technical writing these days is in Word and in HTML, which are not as mysterious as say HDK or FrameMaker. So the profession has to demonstrate value, accept it offers less value than it thought it did, and/or become mysterious again.

People are motivated greatly by a fear of loss. So if someone offers you a job at a low rate, there’s a fear of losing that opportunity and that another one won’t come along. However, that fear of loss works both ways. If you can demonstrate you can offer something to an organisation (at your price), then they may be motivated by a fear of losing that value. That may mean not waiting for offers from a recruitment agency, but GOYA (getting off your …) to network and prospect. Harder done than said, I know. Of course, they will be motivated by having a problem or pain they want to solve, and that there’s hope that it can be solved.

There is some hope for the future. Finally, with Web-based content, we can measure how many readers we have, if they found it useful, if there is a correlation between how much User Assistance there is and how many Support calls, and so on.

Ellis Pratt, cherryleaf.com
_______________________________

The cheese was moved some time ago.

I’d be happy to talk with anyone who is interested in figuring out their future (nope, I am not a coach, professional therapist, or other such thing). I have reinvented myself a number of times. Most recently, I started a small company based upon my interest in family history and genealogy.

I believe the future of technical communication is in the blogosphere and other social media outlets. Employers don’t see us as having the skills for that and know that they can hire people coming out of college for $12.00 an hour to blog like crazy, whether the content is good, bad, or indifferent. If anyone would like to work on this as a business model for tech pubs, let me know, because there is a great white paper in the topic.

We, technical communicators, can’t possibly control what employers will and won’t do, but we can control what we do. I believe that we have lots of great skills and talents to offer, but it will have to be in other fields doing other types of communication work. Making the choice to move on is the hard part.

Jon Baker
_______________________________

I wanted to make just one comment. I do not believe, honestly, that training in XML and DITA costs around $10,000. I first heard about DITA in 2004. By the end of 2006, I was leading a documentation conversion project for my company, and by the end of 2008, that project has been completed. Between 2004 and 2006, I went to a few conferences, and learned by reading basic technical books and information available online. The basic XML class that I took sometime around the year 2000 had cost me about $200. Each of the conferences, even if I were to pay myself (they were paid by the company) had a price tag of about $1000 including all expenses and travel. The books were for $20 or so each. All other information is free and available online. Nowadays, there is even no need to go to these conferences to learn the same technology as it is widely spread and available for free or nearly for free, through seminars and books.

Julia M.
_______________________________

This is not surprising in the world of commodity writing. However, it’s hardly a trend. I’m interviewing people this morning for several clients who have several tech comm jobs available that pay extremely well, above the annual reported salaries from the STC salary survey. That said, “writing” is not the focus of the jobs, “communication” is, which involves strategy, information architecture, project planning, usability, accessibility, and more. Writing is not a skill that is going to continue to pay high wages. If that is your differentiator, you’re in big trouble.

Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler
_______________________________

Another source of this problem is that anybody can set themselves up as a contract recruiter or agency. When I first started job hunting in Atlanta in 1990, when the job market divebombed after the invasion in Kuwait, there were a limited number of contract agencies in the area. In the next 3 years until hiring rebounded in about 1993, I got to know at least one recruiter at most of the agencies that even occasionally  hired technical writers and editors. Since then, most of the local agencies have become part of national organizations, but they and some of the newer local agencies operate in a professional manner. However, in the last few years, the number of new recruiters (mostly single-person operations) that have popped up, who call and badger me to work for them for around $22/hour have become a major aggravation.

As someone else mentioned, most major employers used to work with a few selected, vetted recruiting firms or contract agencies to obtain contract employees. Government agencies, however have to post their openings publicly, and any agency can submit candidates. I have been most often annoyed by these fly-by-night fast-talking individuals when there were open posted positions at the CDC or the GA DOT or DOL. Many speak English with a horrible accent and talk too fast for me to understand them on the phone.

Recruiters at nation-wide professional contract agencies have told me that the typical agency markup over the contract hourly rate is 20-35%, and they wish to maintain good relationships with both their clients and contract employees. Those who are trying to grab 50-75% and offer the writers insulting rates are in it for the money, and because they think they can get away with it.

Techquestioner
_______________________________

I don’t think it’s a position of weakness to know how to articulate the value of your position. We could compare that to the development team or the accounting team, for example, and argue that they don’t seem to need to justify their existence. But don’t they? I see people in many fields who have invested in themselves and bring superior skills to the company having to compete with those who have less skill (and lower wages) or with offshoring.

I do agree that it’s a bit different for tech comm folk, though, mainly for the reasons that Scott Abel mentioned–the hot deliverables like communication strategies and more integrated user assistance are more valued than the help systems and manuals that “no one reads, anyway.” If we can’t connect the dots for management to show that we are the ones that can handle that shift for them, we can get left behind.

I do think that if you are in a market where writers are frantically taking what they can get, it will drag your wages down, and you’ll have to work harder to find the sweet jobs. Can you find new recruiters? Can you find clients directly?

Further, can you help other writers develop better negotiating skills and better prospecting skills? If you’re active in your local STC chapter (or another group), maybe you can organize a panel discussion or present on what works for you. You’ll be investing in the quality of your job market, and accomplishing some networking at the same time.

Kristi Leach
_______________________________

Although current economics have something to do with what you’re seeing, I believe that there will always be a wide range of salaries for the simple fact that if a company searches long enough, they will always find someone who will accept their low paying positions. I once was offered a position with a company for $20,000 LESS than what I wanted. Their HR person even told me that my salary expectation was out of line for the position and that they “hoped I would consider” the amount they were offering because they felt I was, otherwise, a perfect fit for them. (Note: This was during regular economic times.) I declined to accept that horrendous offer knowing full well that the entire company must undervalue technical communicators, otherwise, how could HR say such a thing. Not more than a few weeks later, I found a position that paid exactly what I wanted without even a quibble. Of course, the low-paying position was also filled. As an active STC member, I meet technical communicator all the time; every now and then, I meet the unfortunate people that are employed by that low-paying company. They talk of the stressful work environment, long hours, and lack of respect. Sometimes, even the best of us are subjected to those working conditions, but the difference is that we are better compensated for it. By settling for lower wages, they become part of the problem. They reinforce the company’s lacklustre wages. Instead, we should always stay knowledgeable about current salaries, and if we have access to local salary information, we should go into the interview ready to use it.

(A Calgarian that knows her worth!)
_______________________________

Fortunately, given how available social media tools are now, you don’t have to depend entirely on recruiters. You have more control over your job search options due to social media like TweetMyJob or the search engine in Twitter. If the job is listed on TweetMyJobs or Twitter, my experience has been that it was usually posted in the last hour or day and provides a link to more information. Given your comments, you might want to use those search engines more and recruiters less.

I agree with those who say that you have to have something extra to get a higher rate.
For example, I am currently helping a large proposal team to respond to a very complex proposal. The rate is far higher than anything I made for technical writing. I found the job on Twitter, went through a recruiter, and held out for a higher rate than they said they could offer…and then did offer the higher rate after I refused the lower rate.

And Tom…great technique surveying other tech writers for their experience as well.

Bruce Curley, poetslife.blogspot.com, poetslife@gmail.com

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In this podcast (another monologue), I respond to more student questions about technical writing. The questions are as follows:

1. Question 1 – Who/what are the people and purposes that you write for now? And in the past?
2. Question 2 – What are the kinds of things that you write?
3. Question 3 – What are the processes, methods, practices you use to write those things?
4. Question 4 – What are the technologies you use and how do you use them?

photo by Marco Belluci

Blog Sponsors

• Webworks ePublisher
• Scriptorium
• Help Generator help authoring software
• Southern Polytechnic: Information Design and Communication
• Simplified English
• MindTouch
• Madcap Software
• Dr.Explain
• Adobe Technical Communication Suite
• Congree

In this monologue podcast, I answer a student’s questions about the field of technical writing, including how I fell into it, what kinds of projects I work on, and other details. Her questions are as follows:

1. What did you study in college and where did you attend?
2. What degrees/certificates do you have?
3. Did you know what you wanted to do before you graduated? If so, what was it? Is it what you’re doing now?  If not, why did it change and are you glad it did?
4. What is your current job title and description?
5. How did you come across your current job?
6. What did you go through to get this job? Applying, interview, training, etc…
7. How long have you held this position?
8. What activities, responsibilities, duties, knowledge, etc. does your position require?
9. What have you done to maintain your success in this field/position?
10. Have your position and/or responsibilities changed over your time with this company?
11. What past jobs have you had? Were they helpful when starting your current job?
12. Did you study technical writing in school or was this learned/gained through the employment that you sought and obtained?
13. What tools (including computer software) do you most frequently use? And what tools do you most highly recommend to other technical writers?
14. When you were younger, what was your dream job? What’s your dream job now (if it’s not your current job) and do you plan on trying to pursue it anytime in the future? How will you do that if you plan on it?
15. Had you heard of technical writing before your jobs that were in the field? If so, what did you think of it and when you got involved with it in your past/current employment how was it different/similar from your previous expectations?
16. Can you ever see yourself working in a position that doesn’t require writing or some form of technical communication? Why/why not?
17. How would you describe your personal writing style? Do you think that at work this style is stifled because of the nature of your work or restraints/company policy?
18. Why did you start your blog? Where do you get the ideas for your posts and topics from?
19. Have you ever considered quitting your current job to work solely on your blog? Why/why not?
20. Is there anything that you’ve ever had the urge to write about to include on your blog but you haven’t actually done it? Why/why not?
21. What advice, if any, do you have for me, a soon to be college graduate wishing to enter the field in the next year or two?

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• Scriptorium
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• Southern Polytechnic: Information Design and Communication
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• MindTouch
• Madcap Software
• Dr.Explain
• Adobe Technical Communication Suite
• Congree

What is your job title?

Eileen Potter: Senior Product Content Specialist
(in June I changed positions within my company, previous title was Senior Technical Writer)

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Technical Writer III

Susan Gallagher: Senior Technical Editor (temp)

Leisa Ashbaugh : Tech Writer

Patty Blount: Senior Tech Writer

Tom Johnson: Senior technical writer

John Paz: Technical Writer (TechWriterNinja on Twitter)

Anindita Basu: Information Developer

Chris Ninkovich: Technical Document Specialist

Jullio Vazquez: Senior Information Architect

Kim Nylander: Technical Writer

Grant Hogarth: Technical Writer

Rachel Houghton: Senior Information Designer

Kirsty Taylor: Team Leader: Technical Writing

Daniel Pintilie: Technical Writer

Kartikeya Dwivedi- Senior Technical Writer

Where do you work?

Eileen Potter : Eden Prairie, MN (suburb of Minneapolis)

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Gaithersburg, MD

Susan W Gallagher: Qualcomm, San Diego CA

Leisa Ashbaugh : Vendor at Microsoft, Redmond WA

Patty Blount: CA Technologies, Islandia, NY

Tom Johnson: LDS Church, Riverton, UT

John Paz: Carley Corporation, Orlando, FL

Anindita Basu: IBM India

Chris Ninkovich: Burnaby, British Columbia (Canada)

Jullio Vazquez: SDI, Durham, NC

Kim Nylander: SAS, Cary, NC (contractor for Greene Resources)

Grant Hogarth: South Jordan, UT

Rachel Houghton: Beaverton, OR

Kirsty Taylor: Brisbane, Qld, Australia

Daniel Pintilie: Freelancer, Brussels, Belgium

Kartikeya Dwivedi- ibruk Consulting, India

What preparation did you have for your current job?

Eileen Potter: B.A. in Advertising & Public Relations, 9 years retail operations (both field and headquarters positions; provided a great education about business, business issues, and customer relations.) Laid-off and re-careered into technical writing. After the layoff, 13+ years technical communications (User Assistance materials, SharePoint Site Admin, technical white papers, sell sheets, and other marcom materials.),

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Bachelors degree in Professional Writing. During school, did lots of journalism and freelance writing projects, plus a professional editing internship. Also worked one year as a tech writing intern before joining my current company full time. Currently pursuing a masters in tech comm.

Susan W Gallagher: 25+ years of experience as a technical writer, technical editor, and department manager

Leisa Ashbaugh: 11+ years experience as tech writer (also write marketing and technical marketing web content)

Patty Blount: 7 years in tech comm, as a writer and a manager

Tom Johnson: a bachelors degree in English and a masters in creative writing; jobs as writer/editor, copywriter, writing teacher; a fluency with technology

John Paz: B.A. English, Tech Writing track. 4+ years as a tech writer, 2 as a contractor, 2 in the simulation and training industry. My mother is also an English professor (she’s been prepping me since birth).

Anindita Basu: 10 years as a finance executive, then a switch. Just like that. Was always interested in writing though, and even in the non-TW avatar, had gravitated towards writing process manuals and instructions booklets.

Chris Ninkovich: 10+ years experience writing business and marketing communications. I graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology with an Associates Certificate in Technical Writing. As a kid, I used to LOVE reading instruction manuals for toys, games, IKEA furniture. Maybe that helped!

Julio Vazquez: 20+ years in technical communications in IBM, over 10 years in computer operations/programming/support. AAS in Electrical Technology, BS in Computers and Information Systems. Worked in many aspects of information production processes.

Kim Nylander: BA English, writing emphasis. Background in desktop publishing, retail, editing, photography, and 3D imaging. Working on a help desk. Writing professionally since high school. Hardware, tech, gadgetry, and gaming are all hobbies.

Grant Hogarth: BA English/Tech Theatre, 12y construction, 12y Theatre, MA Rhetoric (OSU Columbus), MS Technical Communication (Rensselaer Polytech). 18y experience as a TW.

Rachel Houghton: BA English Language and Literature, minor in Professional & Technical Writing. 14 years experience as a TW.

Kirsty Taylor: Working as a technical writing project manager, and before that a technical writer with my company. Started a B INf Tech at university, then switched after two years to a BA in Linguistics and Business German. I mushed it all together to get into tech comm.

Daniel Pintilie: BA in English and French, MS in Computational Linguistics and 6+y experience as a TW and sometimes developer/tester.

Kartikeya Dwivedi: Am a techie. Was always into Writing, and decided to make it a full time love affair. Got a freelance Content Writing jig, took up a Software Documentation and a Creative Writing Course, one thing led to another, and I found my calling. It’s been more learning on the job though.

What preparation do you wish you would have had?

Eileen Potter: Would have been nice to have had a basic understanding of graphic design, typography, and how visual design elements impact usability. Of course, now I think it would be interesting to take some user interface/interaction design classes.

Richard Rabil, Jr.: I wish I pursued visual communication much sooner and developed multimedia skills like doing screencasts, web-based tutorials, and voice-over narration. Also wished I had more experience with help authoring tools and context-sensitive help.

Leisa Ashbaugh: the 11 years so far serves me pretty well. When I started, it was a dramatic career change. I did a 9 month professional certificate program for Technical Writing & Editing at the University of Washington, and was very happy for that.

Patty Blount: Wish I’d finished my MS in TechComm before RPI cancelled their distance program for that degree.

Tom Johnson: I wish I had pursued a masters in tech comm or digital media rather than creative writing. Actually, it would be nice to be an interaction designer as well, since they’re held in such high regard in our organization, and their skills (usability, user analysis) overlap with tech comm quite a bit.

John Paz: I had a lot of the writing skills I needed after my first two years in college. I wish I minored in Tech Writing and majored in a more technical field, some IT-related, mostly because that’s what where a lot of my interests are, and because it would have greatly increased my earning potential.

Anindita Basu: I wish I knew a bit about adult learning behaviour. That would help me create more engaging stuff.

Chris Ninkovich: More knowledge about XML, DITA, single-sourcing. All that cool and hip stuff the kids talk about in the tech writing playground.

Kim Nylander: A few classes in graphic design and information architecture would have been useful.

Grant Hogarth: Project scheduling and management, UI design theory, instructional design.

Rachel Houghton: I wish I had known the “current software” at the time I entered the field. My university only taught Desktop Publishing using Quark Xpress, so I had to learn Framemaker on the job, using Frame for Unix 4.0. I wish I’d had a business minor. For this job, I wish I’d had more accounting and/or construction background.

Kirsty Taylor: For my first job, more technical understanding of telephony an IPv6, but generally, I learnt what I needed on the job. Now: knowledge in management, leadership, internationalisation/translation, and perhaps an MBA.

Daniel Pintilie: I learned a lot by working as a TW but I wish I had more time to study programming and IT architecture, project management and usability design.

Kartikeya Dwivedi: Agree with Anindita. Human factors study would have helped. Also a course in Usability.

What is your favorite task at work? Why?

Eileen Potter: I love being creative enough to solve the immediate communication “symptom” facing someone yet analytical enough to step back and determine a longer term solution that solves the true communication “problem”/ business issue. For example, someone asks for a System Limitations document but when you talk to the people who need the info, you realize that the real solution is a searchable System Limitations wiki that let’s people understand limitations introduced by combinations of internal and external tools/applications depending on the version. So, in the short-term, you deliver the Sys Limits doc as requested but you get the discussion going re: the Sys Limits Wiki (or spark better ideas from the team.)

Richard Rabil, Jr.: I love knowing a subject well enough to write about it to others and see them “get it.” Also love teaching technology to others using multimedia such as web-based manuals, screencasts, and help content embedded in interfaces. It’s also great fun to combine writing with visual design and page layout — in this way, tech writing is a really creative, rewarding endeavor.

Susan W Gallagher: editing a document: I find it both relaxing and interesting work.

Leisa Ashbaugh: Editing and writing. I like learning new technical info that I would have never otherwise come in contact with. And, I like writing succinct and complete procedure steps, and snappy marketing copy too.

Patty Blount: new media. Love researching new things like wikis, social networks.

Tom Johnson: I like creating screencasts and interactive media content more than anything else. People get the most excited about these kinds of materials. There’s a presumption that almost anyone can write, but almost no one knows how to create audiovisual materials. Most users prefer video/screencasts over written text as well.

John Paz: I like to write, but the material I write about is bland. The most joy I get is interviewing subject matter experts and discussing what they do.

Anindita: Writing. Creating movies. It’s because I love to communicate and this is what lets me “talk”.

Chris Ninkovich: Communicating with my team members and sharing ideas. I love socializing with people, and tech writing allows you to do that (believe it or not).

Kim Nylander: Learning about complicated concepts and figuring out how to explain them in plain English with illustrations (as needed).

Grant Hogarth: indexing, editing

Rachel Houghton: my favorite part is to edit, but I also enjoy being challenged to learn something new, or being able to occasionally do something different. At one job, I did not just write the documentation, but assisted in Marketing because of my Creative Suite skills.

Kirsty Taylor: I like editing, but rarely have time for it. I feel so hands off now, to when I was an individual contributor, that any time I can get my fingers in our tools, I’m happy.

Daniel Pintilie: I love creating task-oriented topics explaining step by step the functionalities of a software and adding/editing the visuals.

Kartikeya Dwivedi- I love the diverse writing work I get to do out here at ibruk. One day it courseware dev, the next day it is process documentation. So the challenge of taking up a new subject/domain, analyzing client needs and delivering customized documentation solutions is the best part of my job.

What is your least favorite task at work? Why?

Eileen Potter: providing hours estimates, defining schedules, tracking hours, anything repetitious: it is time that takes me away from my real job and I know there has to be a faster way to do it. (I understand people are just trying to estimate/track the actual cost of developing a product but I still don’t like it.)

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Being asked to “fix” poorly designed or written documents at the last minute with little to no understanding of the audience, technology, or context. Being asked to write a great product without having access to the readers / end users, and extremely limited access to the SMEs. Having to write tedious status reports and track every single task accomplished during the day. Oftentimes, I don’t do any writing or editing on the product; it’s all research, planning, or interaction with others.

Susan W Gallagher: editing source code comments: working with ascii text is tedious at best. I seem to spend more time fiddling with line length than I do actually editing

Leisa Ashbaugh: tracking tasks in various bug tracking apps, and reading/editing metrics

Patty Blount: Making PDFs. Hate them.

Tom Johnson: I hate writing documentation that users don’t need. I sometimes have to do this out of business continuity purposes — someone feels it’s important that we have a manual about how a program works, even though everyone who uses the program already is familiar with it.

John Paz: I agree with Tom Johnson above; I cannot stand writing documentation that’s not needed. I need a job no matter what, but to spend 40+ hours a week developing crap people don’t need is demoralizing.

Anindita Basu: Project Management. I hate it (no particular reason)

Chris Ninkovich: I agree with Tom as well. Nothing depresses me more than writing a useless piece just to please some manager.

Kim Nylander: Being asked to help write a document and being asked not to change the writing style, layout, or online help entry style.

Grant Hogarth: writing the same document over and over. Being “edited” by someone who has no idea what they are doing, but relies on grammar-school prescriptions and what they may have heard from someone in some previous office.

Rachel Houghton: Conditional text. Hate it.

Kirsty Taylor: I don’t hate it, but I can find smoothing the relationships between my team and other teams/individuals or my team’s concerns over issues emotionally draining to deal with.

Daniel Pintilie: I don’t like to document bugs and proofread documents written by developers.

Kartikeya Dwivedi: Unnecessary and unproductive meetings at client sites.

What skills do you consider essential to your position?

Eileen Potter: I agree with Richard below. I would also add…curiosity about the product, curiosity about the user’s business and how the product helps them, comfortable asking questions and pursuing good answers, not just the answer you were given. Able to distill bits of information and understand how they come together to provide a better picture. The ability to differentiate between developer-speak [SME input, difficult to code, proud of their technical accomplishment] and the impact it may or may not have on what the user actually cares about [solving business issue: User Assistance output].

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Master writing and style as an art and a craft. Know how to create usable visual materials, how to integrate audio and images with the text, how to do information architecture, how to research the audience, how to collect and incorporate feedback, how to negotiate with other team members, how to learn technology or complex processes and explain them to others, and how to plan for writing / editing challenges that will emerge later.

Susan W Gallagher: language, curiosity, attention to detail, technical acumen

Leisa Ashbaugh: good people skills, quick understanding of new concepts, looking for the “missing info” and of course, good writing

Patty Blount: Besides good writing? The ability to understand the technology I document

Tom Johnson: The ability to write, to create visual material, to learn applications quickly, to interact with project team members, and the ability to work extended periods of time alone.

John Paz: Good writing, which can be learned/taught. But one skill I developed that’s crucial, and some people have difficultly developing, is organization. Keeping files, documents, contacts, due dates, start dates, and other vital information organized will make your life easier in every way, and makes your data invaluable to other people.

Anindita Basu: The ability to categorise info, the ability to prise info out of SMEs, and the ability to translate the info to whatever I am writing/creating.

Chris Ninkovich: Communicating with others, thinking logically, being able to learn new things quickly. Also, a love of technology is good to have, too.

Kim Nylander: Writing skill, definitely, and also a passion for what you are writing about. Be a diplomat, evaluate all sides of a doc project, and have a good “user hat.”

Grant Hogarth: Organization, active intelligence, a high tolerance for stupidity and corporate politics, being able to “think like the user”.

Rachel Houghton: Writing skill, time management, people “management,” the ability to see beyond just your role, and how tasks from others impact what you do (and when you deliver). Not being afraid of technology or using a new software tool.

Kirsty Taylor: time management, interpersonal relationship skills, good memory, decent technical understanding (I work will all development teams in our company), managing upwards.

Daniel Pintilie: Writing skills, time and project management abilities, easiness in communicating to the SMEs, translating the technical into plain simple language, editing images, etc.

Kartikeya Dwivedi: Flair for Writing, Interpersonal skills, Communication skills, Language skills and an ability to learn thing quickly.

What skills do you think are important for every technical communicator?

Eileen Potter: In addition to the list above, realize that a “tech comm career” is a moving target and you will always be a novice, intermediate, expert at something in the Tech Comm continuum. As a result, have a life-long passion to pursue the knowledge you need for a particular moment/project in time!

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Same as above.

Susan W Gallagher: language, curiosity, attention to detail, technical acumen

Leisa Ashbaugh: see above answer

Patty Blount: assertiveness to battle the “anyone can write” mentality, advocating for users, a solid grasp of grammar, the ability to learn new tools quickly, the desire to change as business needs evolve

Tom Johnson: Same as above. I think it’s important to position yourself in the organization as being more than just a writer. It can be very easy for project managers to pigeonhole you into a documentation-only kind of role, when really you can contribute so much more, such as interface text, workflow, video, e-learning, and more. Knowing how to lift yourself out of an organizational pigeonhole is an important skill.

John Paz: Attention to detail, for sure.

Anindita Basu: Curiosity

Chris Ninkovich: If you are going to work in the software industry, know some basic code languages. Know basic HTML. Figure out XML. Learn how to write “topics”, not manuals. Learn about educating adults. Never stop adding to your “skill tool-belt”. Be prepared to wear a lot of hats in your career as a technical communicator.

Kim Nylander: Attention to detail. Watch current and upcoming trends for new skills to add to your skills bucket.

Grant Hogarth: ability to abstract principles from concrete examples, think about how the documents are likely to be used by the reader, solid writing and editing skills.

Rachel Houghton: Same as above.

Kirsty Taylor: Good communication skills, interpersonal skills, and an inherent curiosity: we can’t always rely on someone writing that design doc or telling us what to find: we have to find it and document it.

Daniel Pintilie: Transforming the complex technical world into a familiar, clear and friendly environment for the user/reader meaning that a technical communicator thinks first about the audience and the best way to convey the technical information into readable and useful information for the target audience.

Kartikeya Dwivedi: The aforementioned skills, attention to detail (which kinda grows on to you in this field).

Do you use visuals in your work?

Eileen Potter: Yes, process flows, screenshots, PowerPoint SmartArt. One area I’m trying to improve upon is designing true infographics where the text, the visual, and the concept they communicate are tightly integrated.

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Frequently. I try to use screenshots, process diagrams, icons, colors, page layout, and other such visuals as much as possible. Effective use of white space is critical too. In my experience, people learn and/or “get it” more quickly when pictures are involved along with the writing–or in place of it.

Susan W Gallagher: sometimes

Leisa Ashbaugh: Not currently. But I do think they are so important. Wish I had more training/experience in that.

Patty Blount: yes, definitely. People have different learning styles so I try to address that in my work. I use Visio diagrams to explain concepts or show system architecture, screen shots to eliminate confusion. I recently created some YouTube videos to give users who won’t “RFTFM” another vehicle for learning product use.

Tom Johnson — Yes, visuals are critical. Visual material is the most effective type of learning material, in my experience.

John Paz: Oh yes. And that’s another favorite task of mine, learning how to use graphic tools.

Anindita Basu: Not in user manuals, where I try to avoid them as far as possible unless it’s a complicated task flow or an architecture that just cannot be explained through words. But yes, in movies (where I try to avoid text as far as possible).

Chris Ninkovich: All the time. So learn how to use PhotoShop and Illustrator (or have a graphic artist as a friend.)

Kim Nylander: Some times the most effective communication is a graphic and not text. Any graphic that helps the reader better understand the content is good. Gratuitous graphics are a waste of space.

Grant Hogarth: It depends on the document. Some benefit greatly, while in others it’s just eyecandy.

Rachel Houghton: For the first time in my life, I’m not doing visuals in my documentation. I wish I could, but the screenshots and visuals are only used in the training department materials, and the training department is a separate department from the information design

Kirsty Taylor: We have some flow charts, but we stopped using most screen shots a few years ago. Internationalisation and keeping on top of thousands of screens is a big challenge.

Daniel Pintilie: Yes. I use visuals whenever is necessary.

Kartikeya Dwivedi- As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

If so, how are these visuals generated?

Eileen Potter: Visio, Full Shot, Snagit, PowerPoint, MindManager, MS Paint (I’m with you John!), MS Clip Art online.

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Snagit, Visio, PowerPoint, Microsoft Expression.

Susan W Gallagher: by me, either in Visio or Illustrator

Patty Blount: Visio, Photoshop, Hypersnap, Captivate

Tom Johnson: Captivate, Visio, Photoshop, Snagit, Illustrator. It really depends on what you’re creating. Often you need more than just a screenshot. You need to illustrate a concept.That’s more difficult and require some creative and technical skills.

John Paz: MS Paint (stop laughing, it does the job), GIMP, Photoshop (rarely, prefer GIMP), Visio, PowerPoint, and even Word.

Anindita Basu: Hypersnap, Viewlet Builder for basic screenshot and for movies. If I need a task flow, an architecture diagram, or some such picture, we have a dedicated Graphics department to help us make cool pictures from the back-of-napkin diagrams that I can’t better.

Chris Ninkovich: SnagIt (for screenshots), Adobe Captivate (for training pieces), PhotoShop, Illustrator, Visio.

Kim Nylander: SnagIt, Pixelmator, Omni Graffle, Concept Draw

Grant Hogarth: Screen captures, Photoshop, Illustrator, Balsamiq Mockups, wireframes, and work either contracted fopr from a graphic artist or purchased from stock.

Rachel Houghton: In previous jobs, I used screen captures (SnagIt), Photoshop, Illustrator, and MS Visio.

Kirsty Taylor: Microsoft Visio.

Daniel Pintilie: SnagIt, Visio, Photoshop

Kartikeya Dwivedi- SnagIt, Visio, Paint.

About what percentage of your time on the job is spent on writing (as opposed to researching, training, etc.)?

Eileen Potter: Writing 30%, researching 15%, planning/ meetings 30%, UI Review 15%, travel 2%, black hole of email and other time-suckers 8%

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Writing 25%, researching 25%, planning and editing 25%, working with others 25%

Susan W Gallagher: 50%

Leisa Ashbaugh : Editing 30%, Writing 20%

Patty Blount: Actual writing, 25%. The rest is research, edits, and publishing

Tom Johnson: Writing, 10 percent. Research, 20 percent. Tools, 20 percent. Meetings, 20 percent. I don’t know where the remaining 30 percent goes.

John Paz: First off, lol at Tom Johnson’s answer. Writing: 20%, Research: 30%, Planning: 20%, Meetings: 10%, the other 20% is spent doing things that don’t matter, like filling in surveys on the job.

Anindita Basu: 50%

Chris Ninkovich: Writing: 10% Research and Planning: 60% Working with others: 20% Drinking massive amounts of coffee: 10%

Kim Nylander: Writing 25%; Editing 25%; Research, planning, collaborating: 50%

Grant Hogarth: Writing 55%, image creation/manipulation 25%, editing 10%, bug logging 10%

Rachel Houghton: Writing 50%; Project Management 20%; Research 20%; 10% collaboration.

Kirsty Taylor: 5-10%, and that’s probably project plans and reports, not the real guts.

Daniel Pintilie: 30%. The rest is research, planning and interviewing SMEs.

Kartikeya Dwivedi- 40% for a solo project. Would differ on multi person projects though

Approximately how much of your time is spent collaborating with others?

Eileen Potter: At least 30%

Richard Rabil, Jr.: About a quarter of my time. This includes working with SMEs, managers, and if possible the end users or readers.

Susan W Gallagher:: 10%

Leisa Ashbaugh: 20%

Patty Blount: We are shifting to Agile; about half of my day is spent with others now.

Tom Johnson: Probably 20 percent. I should collaborate more than I do, not just with other project members, but with users.

John Paz: not nearly enough. Less than 10%, almost exclusively during meetings.

Anindita Basu: the remaining 50%.

Chris Ninkovich: 20%

Kim Nylander: Probably 20% collaborating (with Research and planning taking up the other 30% mentioned above)

Grant Hogarth: very little at my current job — a lot at others.

Rachel Houghton: 10%

Kirsty Taylor: 75%

Daniel Pintilie: Depends on the project. Sometimes very much, sometimes rarely.

Kartikeya Dwivedi- A good 30 %

In what ways do you work with others (technicians, designers, developers, editors, users, technical illustrators, etc.)?

Eileen Potter: read project wikis from developers, share docs & meeting spaces via SharePoint, meet w/ internal SMEs (product managers, client consultants) for creating speaking abstracts and presentation materials, team members for editing and feedback. Marketing for more complex graphics. Email for more detailed q’s; use IM for quick bits of info; share desktop with people in global offices.

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Work with SMEs (such as developers, business analysts, CEO, managers) to get the “big picture” business goals, to brainstorm on how to convey a story or message, to get specifics on how a technology or process works, and to get feedback on accuracy, etc. Work with other writers and designers to craft the product. Work readers or end users to understand their needs and processes, and to get their feedback on initial drafts or prototypes.

Susan W Gallagher: work with developers to get information and have them perform technical reviews on completed material; occasionally collaborate with other writers.

Leisa Ashbaugh: Meetings with service management team, hallway conversations, technical reviews and questions via email

Patty Blount: Developers (email) to gain product understanding, product management for project planning information and product marketing to reach customers. We are only now starting to use collaboration tools like SharePoint and wikis to share information.

Tom Johnson: I work with these other roles on a regular basis. Interaction designers often need help with interface text. I often go to developers to ask questions about functionality. Quality assurance engineers are helpful to clarify bugs. And users are key to other kinds of information, such as the tasks they perform, the language they use, the kinds of help formats they need. I can outsource technical illustrations and editing to another department, but I often don’t do this because it takes too much time.

John Paz: Mostly to obtain data I can’t get myself. Or to have an expert proof something I researched. My manager has to proof my docs before they go to the customer, and my customer can sometimes reply back with suggested edits.

Anindita Basu: With the dev team (to get the most of the info coz they’re the SMEs), with the QA team (coz they catch bugs, come up with workarounds, and have slightly more “customer” focus than dev), with editors (for doc structure and language), with info architects (for doc organisation, to decide what kind of materials will be produced, to troubleshoot production issues), with managers (because they write our appraisals ), with other writers on the team (to generally toss ideas about, gossip, and share jokes no one else gets)

Kim Nylander: I work with system administrators to document the procedures specific to supported operating systems and hardware. This material is then organized and presented on the group’s wiki. I also edit/write documents and create illustrations for other groups as requested.

Grant Hogarth: interviewing SMEs, discussing bugs with QA, and trying to keep Project Managers apprised of what is going on. I’m the sole writer here.

Rachel Houghton: Attending release team meetings weekly, attending release deliverables (working with printer/customer delivery), I’m in an Agile environment, so my I have two team members within 10 feet (the other half of the team is remote). I provide information to the training department as I receive it about new features: there’s often a disconnect between engineering and training: I’m the bridge. I’ve been asked to review the text for clarity in new dialog boxes, and I’m invited to sit in on feature demos and development meetings.

Kirsty Taylor: Most of my work is with others: liaising with project managers, development managers, my team, development team members, product management. I’m working with them to ensure their content deliverables are being created, dates/scope is negotiated, translation requirements.

Daniel Pintilie: As a freelancer, I work mostly with SMEs and request information about the product and I take part in some testing.

Kartikeya Dwivedi- Do my own edits, illustrations and process flows. Developers are the SMEs, and my interactions with them are to understand the application and point out usability issues. Have been trying to get direct end user feedback, or get in personal touch but that’s a losing battle for now. In my current process documentation jig, I am arranging mock ups for processes and it is helping BIG time.

What are your major sources of complaint and satisfaction on the job?

Eileen Potter: Sources of complaint: tech writing deadlines never slip although the deadlines of all other depts do, thus TW is regularly compressed. Source of satisfaction: I like helping other writers or employees when they are struggling w/ tools or content; I’m currently enjoying writing across all product lines in my new position.

Richard Rabil, Jr.: Sources of complaint: Working over time, dealing with last-minute stressful projects, not really knowing how effective the final written or design product is, not being able to use the latest technologies (I wish I could use more graphics, audio, and interactive media), not given enough time to do quality writing and design. Sources of satisfaction: Using the written word to make a living, working with a great team of intelligent people, seeing when a written or designed product gets high approval, being acknowledged as a good writer whose opinion matters, and getting positive responses from readers.

Susan W Gallagher: Satisfaction is from interesting work and good people to work with. Only complaint is that there is sometimes not enough interaction with others on the team

Leisa Ashbaugh: satisfaction for me comes when others appreciate my work. A simple “thanks” makes my day. Complaint: crazy, broken systems for tracking complex work items.

Patty Blount: Complaint: I request reviews, get no feedback, release content and then get a flood of complaints that the guide is wrong. Satisfaction: When customers take the time to notify the company that the documentation helped them.

Tom Johnson: Major sources of complaint: loneliness, sedentary-ness, feeling that no one uses the documentation, being required to create old help formats rather than interactive media, underbudgeting from project managers (so I don’t have enough time to create good help), being excluded from the product creation process until near release or even post-release. Sources of satisfaction: Empowerment with tools, exploration of new media and forms of learning, interacting with project teams in IT environments, stable work with good pay, low-stress, freedom to innovate.

John Paz: Complaint: My work doesn’t matter and is excessive to requirements, I live in constant fear I’ll lose my job. Satisfaction: technical writing is projected to have 15-30% job growth over the next decade. Complaint: I rarely get to do any of the cool stuff I worked on during undergrad. Satisfaction: I get to learn new things all the time, I get to work under tight deadlines (otherwise I slack off), and I get to write for a living (invaluable).

Anindita Basu: Major source of complaint: UI changes, code changes much after “decided” freeze dates. Major satisfaction: Overhearing someone say, “Heh! It’s there in our docs. Just go to this page … and then ask me only if you still don’t understand”.

Kim Nylander: Complaint: Being told, “I don’t know why you bother. No one reads the manuals any way.” Sigh. Have had that attitude amongst coworkers at several past positions. Satisfaction: Getting an email saying “We have documentation for that now on the wiki…” or “Did you see this article…?” Having coworkers who come in and say “hey I had this idea for a document…”

Grant Hogarth: Satisfaction: hearing that a doc I wrote helped clinch a sale, knowing that I’ve done good work, even if others don’t really recognize it. Dissatisfaction, being treated as just an automated typewriter, one that has no idea of what might improve the product or process.

Rachel Houghton: Complaint: hearing the old “no one reads the manuals anyway”: when my help feedback system clearly shows that the users are accessing software help (and which version too). Satisfaction: currently, it’s knowing that I’m providing an extra value to the team and getting recognized for going above and beyond when necessary.

Kirsty Taylor: Complaint: Working with some of the negative aspects of significant downsizing over the past 18 months and trying to keep my team together and focussed, regardless of what might happen around us. And when dev managers try to tell me how to write doco/what standards to use. Satisfaction: I have a darn cool team who’ve made some great innovations in the past year or two: things that we’d been trying to get to for years with single sourcing. I love working with I18N and translation, it really complements my linguistic and German experience.

Daniel Pintilie: Complaint: Having to explain why I do my job and why is important because not all the people in IT business know, requesting feedback without answer and having no certainty that the deliverable complied. Satisfaction: working with different people, learning new things every day, interviewing interesting people often and sometimes a thank you that counts a lot.

Kartikeya Dwivedi- The grouse is to quantify our work and commercials, as out work is not something completely measurable. So, it is mostly a time taken and money asked complaint.

Satisfaction comes with finishing the project, and by going that extra mile for the client, give them more than they asked for. And yes, repeat business

photo by Valerie Everett

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