Want to become a
Professional Technical Writer?
What is Technical Writing?
Technical Writing is
writing on a specific subject for a specific purpose to a specific audience.
Technical Writers can be
considered as a bridge between people who know technology and people who use
it. They understand the intricacies and complications of technology and put it
in simple words that help the user understand and use the technology.
What do Technical Writers
do?
A technical writer’s job
will be to gather information from various sources, comprehend the technology,
and put it in simple and easy-to-understand language for the end user.
The following are some of
the documents a technical writer creates:
- User Manuals
- Online Help
Content
- Reports
- Brochures
- Process
Documents
- Business
Proposals
- Resumes
- Memorandum
- Minutes
- Feature
Modules
- Release
Notes
- Policies and
Procedures
Who can be successful in
Technical Writing?
Technical Writing is
considered as both Science and Art. It is a science because there is a
methodical way of doing technical writing. It is an art because it involves
writing. People with inclination and passion for writing can score as good technical
writers. The following are the attributes expected of a technical writer:
- Good written
communication skills
- Flair for
writing (Simple but good English is preferred)
- Inclination
to learn new technologies
- Working
knowledge of computers
What is the scope
for Technical Writing?
With the advancements in
the field of Information Technology, the way any business happens has changed,
and the emphasis on quality has increased. Owing to this factor of attaining
perfect quality, the market needs professional Technical Writers who are
masters in communicating the right information to the right people.
The growing demand for
Professional Technical Writers is increasing exponentially
In order to maintain
India’s competitive advantage of technically skilled knowledge-workers with the
right mix of technical, business and functional skills, the workforce needs to
increase by at least 10-fold by 2008
As per the
Nasscom-McKinsey report 1999, India needs to have at least 2.2 million
knowledge workers in IT software and services related areas by 2008
Technical Writers are a
part of these knowledge professionals and companies have started realising the
importance of hiring professional Technical Writers.
Technical Writing not only
applies to the field of Information Technology, but also extends to other
fields like:
Pharmaceutical,
Aeronautical, Automobile, Mechanical, Chemical, and many other fields
What salaries do Technical
Writers get?
Technical Writing proves
to be a very good career option. A fresher in the field of technical writing
gets paid around Rs.12,000 per month. A technical writer with two years of
experience is able to draw about Rs.25,000 per month. Efficient and Experienced
Technical Writers get monthly salaries running to lakhs. For current figures
you can refer to: www.stc-india.org, the official website of Society for
Technical Communicators (STC) in India. Apart from these employment
opportunities, technical writing also provides lots of scope for freelancing.
The Author is working
for KBufferIndia, one of the
premium Institutes in the field of Technical Writing.
Branch Offices:
Chennai: T.Nagar | Mandavelli |
Anna Nagar (Aminjikarai)
Pune, Hyderabad.
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