Your Writing Dept Blog Creating quality user documentation and putting the “M” in RTFM.

Where To Go To Become a Tech Writer or To Find One To Hire?

By Tom Guarnera

Finding a single place to learn about Technical Writing is not the easiest task. Because of this, it is even trickier to find a good source for locating potential candidates for the job. Many writers seem to be just born with this ability, while others have learned it through intensive study. Meanwhile, others have gone a path in life that through training, natural abilities and fate have gravitated to this field.

There are no rules or absolutes in finding a tech writer. For example, I look for the following when hiring a candidate.

College educated, preferably in journalism. I would look for some indication of a technical background. Many times this can be found in the military, but I would want to temper the rigidness of the military with a civilian advanced education. I would strongly consider a person who worked in a technical or mechanical world, but then went to college.

I stress college, but not for the obvious reasons. Too often I feel that being “book smart” often dumbs down your abilities. That said, the path taken to earn a college degree is not usually a straight one. On top of your classes required for your major, you have to take classes such as English, speech and history. Likewise, the very task of completing the required course work is daunting and takes a commitment that not everyone posses. This long term commitment can be found in the military as well. Both paths require you to follow certain rules, but yet be flexible enough to adjust as your surroundings change.

You may have noticed that I am not entirely keen on English majors as technical writers. I have met a number of really good writers along the way that are masters of the English language. Unfortunately, many people out of your average English department have a strict zero tolerance policy in the rules of the language. In tech writing, these rules are often broken. Knowing when and why they need to be broken is helpful. Another disadvantage to the average English Lit major is that they are often taught that sheer volume of words and punctuation makes for good reading. Of course, I am over simplifying and generalizing. When you are choosing a person based on a one to two hour interview process, you have to make some generalizations. I use the analogy of a parking lot speed bump when looking at complex sentences.

Journalism majors seem to be the counter balance of the English major. In journalism, brevity is taught as a rule. The Associated Press (AP) Style Guide is taught in J-school and I have found these rules more in line with good tech writing.

If someone asked me the path to take to become a successful tech writer, I would say this (WARNING: parents preparing to send their child to college, beware!). I would tell someone, go to college; community, state, private…it doesn’t matter to me. Just get at least a four year degree, but probably in more than four years time. Change your major at least three times. Get some business classes, some computer programming skills and finally end up in the journalism department. While earning your degree, work your way through with some sort of blue collar labor. This will help you appreciate your education as well as giving you the possibility to improve your technical skills. Somewhere around your third year, drop-out when the weather starts to warm and sell everything you own. Travel Europe by rail until your money runs out. Get a job in Italy as a dishwasher and stay two more months. Come home, re-enroll, get focused and graduate way ahead of everyone else. Enter the Tech Writing world and hold on for the ride.

See the first two articles in this series by Tom:

• How Do I Become a Technical Writer?
• What Are the Characteristics of a Good Technical Writer?

Your Writing Dept is a Sacramento-based writing firm that specializes in developing technical manuals and how to guides. We’re the leaders in technical communications in Northern California. Email us for more information about our services at info@yourwritingdept.com.

Additional Posts from Your Writing Dept

• Resumes that separate you from the rest of the crowd
• 18 Web Sites and Blogs That Will Improve Your Writing Skills
• How to stop confusing Me and I. Me and Billy will explain it to you
• InfoPorn: Presenting raw data with visually stimulating graphs
• How many spaces after a period? One or two?
• Tips for hiring an outsourced technical writing team to document your product or process