Attention those life science professionals who hold a bachelor's, MS, or PhD in biology, microbiology, clinical research, and so on. If you have been pondering a career change, then the Technical Communication profession may be a good fit for you--particularly if you have accumulated writing experience from your science background. There has never been a [...]
Ten ways to lose your edge—or even knock you out of contention-- against the competition when competing for a job opening: 1) Overlooking any typos or grammatical mistakes on your resume and samples. 2) Not including a cover letter with your resume. 3) Arriving late for an interview. 4) Being inflexible and limited in availability [...]
Future trends in tech. comm.: --Tools and methodologies will continue to evolve. --New industries will continue to emerge & expand. --Paper will not go away, Web will get stronger. --Tech. comm. job market will get stronger for years to come. --Technology will drive new job functions & titles not yet conceived. --Writers will increasingly become [...]
One of positive aspects of temporary assignments (contracting or consulting) is that it allows you the freedom to move around the marketplace and observe the infrastructures of various tech. comm. departments. This allows you a birds-eye view of how each environment approaches the project development cycle—including content development tools, policies and procedures, unique methodologies, and [...]
When meeting with a new tech. comm. client to discuss a new project, make sure that they are aware that a project's success or failure very much depends on their consistent involvement along the project timeline. Regardless if it is a primary contact or a particular SME, it is important throughout the project that each [...]
When meeting with a new client, it is important to find out if the client has any experience working with tech. comm. professionals. If the answer is "no" or "very little", then it is advised that you assume the role of educator, & provide an overview of what they should expect in terms of demands [...]
Skills, strengths, &/or experiences that make the tech. comm. grad. “market ready”: Internship, relevant paying jobs, volunteer projects. Familiarity with more popular tools &/or concepts—i.e., Adobe Suite; XML-based tools (i.e., content management--CMS). Awareness of corp. processes, such as: global translations, UI & UX, Agile project management. Experiences reflecting: a) good written/verbal skills, b) problem-solving, c) [...]
When quoting & planning a technical documentation project, there are a number of variables that can severely impact the quality & timeliness of a project. Be pro-active in addressing the following questions with stakeholders: Is the audience, purpose, and scope clearly identified by an approved outline or plan?, Are critical milestone dates identified & realistic? [...]
Skills, strengths, and/or experiences that make the new technical communication graduate “market ready”: Internship (paid or non-paid). Relevant paying jobs while in school (i.e., school newspaper or other publications). Volunteer projects (non-paying)—such as for local church, community, professional organizations. Knowledge and/or working experience with some of the more popular authoring tools and/or concepts—such as Adobe [...]
To all startup and small company stake-holders who don't have a technical writer in-house. Remember the old saying “penny wise, and pound foolish”, or “you get what you pay for”? Well, this also applies to the technical communication profession. It may seem like a good idea to assign a tech. comm. project to a non-professional [...]