I got a few mails from aspiring tech writers asking how to be a technical writer. I’ll assume that you guys are asking me ‘how to get a technical writer’s job’. Please note that the content below is inspired by what little I know; don\u2019t go by it word for word: get the idea and work your own path. Good luck!
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Technical writers spend their time a) Researching (on a product) b) Collecting information d) writing and d) designing\/Publishing. There could be more, but most tech writers do all of the above. So get the hint: we ‘also’ write. So being a writer doesn’t mean you can easily become a technical writer. You need (according to me): <\/p>\n
If you asked me ‘okay I got all that you mentioned above, will i get a job?’ My answer is ‘I only look like god.’ \ud83d\ude09
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Publishing skills are crucial for a technical writers repertoire. So you got to be acquainted with all the widely used desktop\/web publishing tools like Adobe FrameMaker<\/a><\/strong>, Robo-help<\/a>. You need to know HTML<\/a>. So much of documentation is being delivered online so knowledge of HTML is -at least to me- a very basic skill that you need to acquire. Cracking a job is an art, and a science. Decide first who you want to work with. Let’s say you want to work with Intel<\/a>; study about your target. What is the company into; do they have offices in your town? Go through their documentation (most product companies offer it online) and get a feeler of what these guys are about. Prepare an effective resume<\/a>. Find the e-mail id of the target company’s recruitment exec or just call them up and speak to the front office and ASK (we don\u2019t often) who is the documentation manager? Send your profile across. Do the above a 100 times (I mean to 100 companies genius). Normal hit rate is 10% given there aren’t any over riding factors like your country’s been hit by a nuclear bomb or the industry is at its worst ever low in 1000 years… if all is normal you should get a call. After that it is your confidence that’ll win you the job. But as I said focus is important. You should know what you want and most important: what you don\u2019t want. Let\u2019s sum it up: If you are wondering \u2018how am I going to research about a company?\u2019 well, find another career option buddy. Ever heard of google<\/a>?<\/p>\n
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FrameMaker and RoboHelp are popular today, this might change. Tools change. Concepts don\u2019t. The point is, your being an expert desktop publishing technician doesn\u2019t mean that you are a technical writer. It is like saying \u2018all English professors are writers.\u2019
\n<\/p>\nCracking that job<\/h4>\n
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Using job sites<\/h4>\n