Helpful Discussion among Members at September Event
By Ben Minson on Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Members listen intently as Joe talks about the skills managers and HR departments should be asking for.
On Thursday, September 17th, members of the chapter met for some food and discussion about issues affecting technical communicators. The main topics were the job market and how students can prepare themselves for the profession. We also talked briefly about what brings people to STC. This post shares some of the thoughts and ideas given during the discussion.
The Job Market
This is an issue on many of our minds, and this topic was brought up by an educator wanting to know what to tell her students.
One member said that as an independent consultant and contractor, she uses the number of job postings per day is an indicator of how well the economy is doing as a whole, since technical communicators are often hired last and let go first. Currently, Monster.com has four to six postings for technical writing–related jobs.
Postings often ask for three to four years of experience minimum. One person asked how critical these numbers are to hiring managers. A technical writing manager present told us that for him, if the team is small, he values senior technical writers (minimum five years of experience) because he needs people who can get going quickly after being hired. The five years of experience was a must.
However, many managers and HR departments don’t know what’s important in a technical writer. They ask for knowledge of specific software, which can be learned in relatively short time, instead of skills in project management, problem solving, and audience analysis, which aren’t as easy to learn. Being able to be trustworthy with the customer and get answers is also essential.
When managers and customers don’t really know what they want in a technical writer and the deliverables, it’s up to the tech writers they already work with to educate them one on one. We can’t make a big change in perspective all at once.
These days, someone pointed out, it’s important to be willing to reinvent yourself, or you may not be able to find a job. The profession is changing, and we need to keep up with it. STC can be a way to help technical communicators and educators stay on top of changes.
Note: E-Learning and the Science of Instruction by Ruth Colvin Clark and Richard E. Mayer was mentioned as a resource for learning to analyze the audience and planning materials to meet their needs.
How Students Can Prepare
One way is to follow the instructions when applying for a job! If it asks for a cover letter, to email the application, or anything else, do exactly that. Those who don’t follow the instructions are the first to be passed over, no matter how appealing their qualifications may be (because their qualifications aren’t even seen).
It was suggested that tech comm educators look for opportunities within their schools for internships. For example, a professor at Utah State University arranged a technical editing internship with the engineering program so that technical writing students could work with engineering students on their proposals and project plans to give them a more professional quality. Tech writing students need these internships to answer the “how to get experience” problem.
Students should also not think “I’m done” when they walk out the door of the university or college. Always keep learning and sharpening your skills. This is also important if your career shifts and different things are expected of you over time than when you began the job.
Students can work on open-source projects, such as those at the wiki at http://tech.lds.org. This gives real-world experience working with project managers, developers, and testers.
They should develop the skills mentioned above, such as project management and audience analysis, as much as they can. Technical communicators often have to work as project managers as they plan and produce their deliverables.
Bringing People to STC
One of the reasons people come to STC is for continuing education, particularly while interacting with the chapter. Meeting with chapter members is a reality check—it allows us to see what other people’s experiences and knowledge are.
One member said in the two STC Summits he attended, he got more out of the day of classes than out of the presentations, so providing training would be helpful. STC also provides a way to continue learning through the members who are experts in the field.
SIG listservs provide a great resource for members when they are active.
This discussion was a great opportunity for chapter members to benefit from each other’s perspectives and experiences. We will probably have more events like this one periodically. Feel free to continue the discussion by posting a comment.
