TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:re: How to I get into this field? From:"Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com> To:"techwr-l List" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:41:57 -0500
From: Kerry Cort <kercort -at- yahoo -dot- com>
Subject: How to I get into this field?
I have a BA in English and would like to get into technical writing but
need to know what steps I should take.? What is required?
------------------------------
There are probably a number of discussions of this topic in the TECHWR-L
archives.
The way I got into the field was to go through the master's program in
Technical and Science Communication at Drexel University, where part of
the program involves a paid internship. In my case, the paid internship
turned into an actual real job.
If you want to just go job-hunting without the master's degree, you
could try a job board such as www.dice.com. That seems to be a
particularly good one for technical writing positions.
Two other things you should expect when looking for a technical writing
job:
First, it help to know some of the tools used in producing documents,
such as FrameMaker and MS Word.
Second, it's a plus to know something about the subject matter you'll be
writing about, although there are probably a lot of positions where you
can learn on the job, as did I.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial. http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
