DUTIES OF A TECHNICAL WRITER

A technical writer prepares following things:

1. Documents

2. User guides

3. White papers

4. Catalogues

5. Manuals

6. Catalogues

Till 1990’s, a technical writer is supposed to deal only with writing part. The advent of computers, Internet, and multi-media has brought about drastic changes in the role of a technical writer. Now-a-days, a Technical writers has to fulfill several responsibilities from the preparation of technical documents to the designing of tables, images, and diagrams.

Contrary to assumption of many people, a technical writer has to do much more than working at PC. A technical writer is required to meet several Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), Project managers, team leaders, programmers, machine operators. They may be required to travel to different locations on work, if required.

ADVANTAGES OF THE JOB

Following are the advantages enjoyed by the technical writers.

• Easy and comfortable job
• Less stress and strain compare to IT field
• Less competition compared to the post of programmers
• Promises a good rewarding career

SALARY AND GROWTH PROSPECTS

The salary of a technical writer depends upon the company, place of work, country, his personal experience and several other factors. An average technical writer with no experience in Hyderabad may get 8k. Even in cities like Hyderabad, there are technical writers who are drawing 30k to 40k. An experienced technical writer maybe paid more than a team leader in software industry.

A fresher should not hesitate to accept a job for even less salary because his or her prime focus must be only on making an entry into the industry. Real experience helps them a lot in several ways and with a few years of experience, a fresher can get a job in a good company where he is paid good salary.

SPECIALISATION:

Technical writer may be specialized in a specific industry such as Computers, Electronics, Telecommunication, Electrical engineering, Instrumentation, Pharmacy, Agriculture, and Bio-engineering. Within their chosen industry, many technical writers may specialize further. e.g., Technical writers in computers may specialize in SAP documentation.

The technical writers who are specialized in a particular topic are paid more than non-specialized technical writers as it is very difficult to find specialized and super specialized technical writers with advanced technical knowledge and updated latest happenings.

NEED OF A TECHNICAL WRITER FOR A FIRM

A technical writer is like an invisible teacher for the target audience. He is a link between the company and customer. Technical writing reduces the necessity for provision of customer support services. In the absence of technical writing, a company has to appoint hundreds of Customer Support executives, which is very expensive and hectic task, to answer the queries of various customers through the world.

It is wrong to assume that technical writers are confined only to software field and one can find them various fields such as telecom, electronics, electrical, mechanical, finance, medicine, government organization and NGOs.

Introduction to Technical writing

You would have seen information brochures, which gives instructions about using the product that you have purchased. But, you may not know about the persons who draft such brochures. It is technical writer who prepares such brochures is called technical writer.

However, the job of a technical writer is not merely confined to writing brochures alone. The subject ‘TECHNICAL WRITING’ has a vast scope and a technical writer has a wider set of responsibilities. A technical writer has to prepare technical documents and user guides for a technical product or process, which is technical in nature.

In our personal life, often, we get indulged in technical communication and technical writing without knowing about it. If you explain your younger brother how to operate a product such as computer, cell phone, an ATM card, it is called technical communication. If you put the same explanation on a paper in a clear and concise language, it becomes technical writing.