connect@careeradvisor.net.in    +91 9599415378

Career Counselling

Technical Writer

Description

Smart and effective communication has become necessary for any product and service offered to today’s customer by profit-­conscious organisations. And this has contributed to the ­prominence of the profession of technical writing. A ­technical writer transforms technical information into a simple and lucid message so that the users can comprehend the ­information and eventually use the product or the service it refers to.

Requirements

Unlike other ­professions, you do not require any specific qualification, degree or ­certificate — you can be a graduate in humanities, or ­engineering. What counts is your ability to ­communicate ­information about technology to your audience, your command over the language, and your ­understanding of the ­delivery ­medium.

The following skills prove to be advantageous for the candidate:

  • Strong verbal and written ­communication skills, a penchant for writing, an eye for detail
  • Basic to expert level language editing skills
  • Formatting and designing skills
  • Knowledge of authoring and design software like Lotus Symphony, MS Office, Adobe Technical Communication Suite, etc and content management tools such as FileNet, Author IT, Documentum, etc
  • Programming language skills like C, C++, Java will also help. Certain job roles will require knowledge of specific ­applications and tools like Databases, ERP, CAD, etc in the IT industry
  • Ability to work in a team, stick to deadlines, take ownership
  • Knowledge of the industry domain

Job Prospects

Remuneration varies across industry and is quite competitive with other professions. A professional with less than a year’s experience can earn Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 18,000 a month. A writer with five-nine years of ­experience can easily earn more than Rs. 7 lakhs per annum. Writing managers earn close to Rs. 20 lakhs per annum

Pros & Cons

One can diversify into ­advertising and journalism. You can learn new things about different products. It is a highly competitive field. Late working hours during ­documentation release can be a dampener.