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There are all kinds of Technical
Writing
At least one type
will suit you more then others. I was well suited for High Tech Technical
Writing but there are nice niches for:
Inside a Technical Writer's office there are also
sub-categories which make for wonderful consulting positions such as:
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indexing specialists
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online help specialists
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project coordinators
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transcribers
Each of these categories and sub-categories has newsgroups,
newsletters and websites.
What Kind of Work Place Makes it
Easy
If you are new to this field and
looking for full-time work, I suggest finding a company with at least 5 other
Technical Writers sitting around you so you can ask lots of questions. If you are
lucky, you'll have a group where your Boss encourages proofing one other's
work. Getting feedback from other writers is the fastest way to learn and
probably hard
to achieve if you are working alone.
If you are going to work from home, I highly recommend joining the Society
for Technical Communication (STC) to have the opportunity to ask questions. You
don't have to be a paying member of the STC to join their newsgroups. Without
being an active participant you will still be able to learn about all
kinds of classes which are offered, deals and job openings. |
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White Papers
Go to a trade show and pick up at least 3 and hopefully 5 white
papers. White papers present a concise overview of a specific product. If you live in a rural community and can't get to a trade show, find
white papers on the Internet and see how closely they adhere to the suggestions
laid
out on this website: http://www.words.israel.net/iow-tr-whitefaqs.html
. Try to figure out how clearly they present concepts and whether or not you like
the face of their organization. Start a binder of white pages, you'll be
happy to have it when you have to write one yourself.
If you can get to a trade show, even a small one, it is worth it to
see how a wide variety of companies present themselves. The showroom
floors are usually free unless you want to go to conferences within the
show.
Use Online Help
Use online help in all the programs you own. Decide what you like and
dislike about it. For fun, look through the index tab in the online help and see if you
can find any words that shouldn't appear such as misspelled words or even
internal documents. I'm amazed at how often these things slip through the
cracks. Remember this when you are a successful Techincal Writer, it is
important to leave time in your projects for clean-up.
Social Skills are Important
Below are the social skills that are important on my job. If you
enjoy these kinds of challenges, you'll probably like Technical Writing.
Rate yourself from one to five with 1 meaning no skills and
five meaning comfortable defining myself as this kind of person.
The higher your score, the
more likely it is that you will enjoy being a Technical Writer:
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