The topic of finding work as a technical writer came up on a mailing list I subscribe to recently, and I want to share some advice here. I have been a job seeker in this market many times, and I was also involved in recruitment for a while some years ago, so I have literally been on both sides of the desk in the recruitment process.
As a result, I have seen dozens of CVs (resumés) from technical writers and my first piece of advice is to make sure that your CV is as near to flawless as you can make it. Not only does it need to be relevant to the job you are applying for, it needs to look good as well. I know some recruiters and agencies use keyword searches to screen candidate CVs and don’t actually read most of them, but if you are lucky enough to get your CV in front of a hiring manager you want your piece of paper to stand out. Don’t be scared to use white space to create a clean, uncluttered layout. It can make a difference. If nothing else, it shows you’re a professional. Read more
Last week a blog post by fellow technical writer Colum McAndrew (who I was delighted to meet in person at the London Tech Writers Social) raised a lot of responses on Twitter. Colum’s topic was Top 10 technical writer annoyances. Some of the items on Colum’s list resonated with me and with other professional technical writers, as many of us think that what we can contribute, particularly to a software development team, is not fully appreciated. Australian technical writer Rhonda Bracey pointed out that she published a similar list on her blog quite some time ago. Read more
I have been running informal social meetings of tech writers in London for the last two years. These are now independent gatherings but they are supported by both the ISTC and the UK Chapter of the STC. The next London Tech Writers Social takes place on 19th November at a new venue. Here are the details:
Date: 19th November 2009
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Garrick Arms, 8 – 10 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0HG Read more
The following question appeared on a mailing list for technical writers that I subscribe to:
Would a technical writing or technical communication graduate *certificate* (rather than a master’s) be useful in trying to find a technical writing job for a university graduate with a B.A. in anthropology from UCLA and no further higher education beyond that?
I replied to the poster and explained that entry-level tech writer jobs are not easy to find at the best of times, and that at the moment they are very few and far between, irrespective of where you are located. Read more
I met Derek Torres about three years ago when he was a speaker at an STC regional conference that I helped organise in London. Since then I had the pleasure of meeting him at a number of technical writing events in Europe and the USA. As well as being a technical writer Derek was a published author or co-author of a number of technical books including The Unofficial Guide to Windows XP, and The Unofficial Guide to Windows Vista, both published by Wiley.
Two years ago when I was one of the founders of the STC’s Europe SIG, Derek was one of our first supporters and he volunteered to be the editor for our SIG’s first newsletter. We were speakers together at a progression session at the STC conference in Philadelphia in 2008. I found him always a warm and friendly colleague, highly professional and very knowledgable, as well as generous with his time and advice.
Earlier this week I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn that Derek had died as a result of H1N1 influenza. In offering my condolences to his wife and family, I hope and pray that they have many good memories of Derek to strengthen and comfort them at this difficult time. Derek was highly respected amongst his professional peers and everyone who knew him will miss him deeply.
