Editor’s Note: The following piece by Warren Singer is part of our collection of “classics”–articles that stand the test of time no matter how many technologies come and go. We thought ten years would be a good mile marker to see if the things that stressed us in 2001 have changed. We invite you to have a read and then take part our "anniversary poll." Read more of this technical writing article »
Professional Development
Every technical writer needs a grounding in getting started in this thriving profession. These features and how-to articles provide insight on traveling the career path, as well as tools and strategies for landing the job, advancing in the organization, and building skills.
Highlights from International Freelancers Day: Six Tools to Build Relationships on LinkedIn
You may not have known it, but September 23 was International Freelancers Day, as declared by the International Freelancers Academy, a training company who sponsored a daylong set of webinars providing inspiration and practical advice to freelancers of all types. Among the webinar presenters that day was Steve Slaunwhite, author of The Wealthy Freelancer and small business marketing coach. Let's take a closer look at LinkedIn tools, with some thoughts on how to apply Slaunwhite's tips to technical communication careers. Read more of this technical writing article »
Network Your Way to a Paycheck
If you’re a student or a recent grad, you may believe that you don’t know anyone who can help you get into the workplace. However, even as a student in an online course, you can take advantage of relationships built in the online classroom to get your foot in the door for good technical communications positions. Read more of this technical writing article »
To Tweet or Not to Tweet? Effective Networking with Twitter
What value could Twitter possibly add to your technical communications career? If you are not a Twitter user, you might think that Twitter is not interesting enough for you to bother with. If you are Twitter user, you might think that Twitter is entertaining, but it is basically full of useless information and that it definitely has no value as a professional networking tool. Until recently, as a casual Twitter user, my opinion of Twitter was a mix of the previous two viewpoints; however, this changed Read more of this technical writing article »
Get More Interviews with a T-Letter
Tom Murrell outlines how someone can create a t-letter and use it during their job search. Read more of this technical writing article »
Everything I Need to Know As a Technical Writer I Learned In High School
Not many of us started off here. Although it seems that the field has been growing steadily for twenty years, there haven’t historically been a lot of technical writing programs, and thus most technical writers began their professional lives as…something else. Of the technical writers I heard from, only four had been through a dedicated [...] Read more of this technical writing article »
Building an NDA-Compliant Portfolio
At some point in your technical communications career (and probably at most of them), you will be asked to sign a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before beginning work for an employer or client. Like most professionals, you plan on doing great work, and want to be able to show future employers and clients exactly what kind of technical communications masterpieces you can produce. But you’ve got to sign that NDA, and it’s gnawing at you how you’ll be able to show your capabilities without divulging information that could impact the company that hired you. Read more of this technical writing article »
This IS Your Dream Job!
Here are two questions to ask yourself: 1) when are you most content? (Not ‘happy’ per se, since happy moments are fleeting. 2) Does contentment ever happen for you during the workday? The average American worker spends 2080 hours per year on paid work.[1] Over 30 years, that adds up to 62,400 hours. That’s a [...] Read more of this technical writing article »
Sliding into Technical Writing
I entered this career using a combination of persistence and dumb luck. I wanted to become a tech writer when I was in college, but the career ladder didn’t exist then as it does now. My parents cautioned me not to pursue it. They didn’t understand that one could make a living by writing instructions. [...] Read more of this technical writing article »