Technical writing career paths in the UK
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The document provides information about technical writing careers in the UK, including common job titles, career paths, industries that hire technical writers, necessary skills and software, and more. It outlines stages in a typical career path like starting as a junior technical author and progressing to senior roles and management. It also discusses options like freelancing or moving from technical writing into other roles over time. The document aims to outline the field of technical writing and provide resources for learning more.
Technical writing career paths in the UK
- 1. Technical writing career paths in the UK info@cherryleaf.com www.cherryleaf.com
- 2. Job titles Technical Author Technical Writer Information Designer Information Developer Content Developer Technical Communicator Also: Technical Information Engineer Document Engineer Procedures Writer User Assistance Developer Information Architect Principal Writer
- 3. Career path: Most common stages Junior Technical Author Technical Author Senior technical authoring role (e.g. "Lead Technical Author") Manager Hybrid role
- 4. Technical Author Hybrid roles: Technical Author and... QA Tester Scrum Product Owner Translator Editor Technical Support Programmer / Engineer Technical Illustrator Marketing Copywriter UX Designer Trainer / Courseware Developer / Instructional Designer Project Manager Information Architect
- 5. Career path: Straight from university Graduate 1st job as a Technical Author Lead/Senior Technical Author Manager Mentoring and training
- 6. Career path: Falling into a career as a Technical Author Graduate (in most cases) Any job in any industry Given a writing project Receive training (in some cases) Technical Author Lead Technical Author Manager
- 7. Career path: Freelancer Graduate (in most cases) Technical Author Start as a freelancer
- 8. Career path: Moving on/up Technical Author Documentation Manager Project Manager Product Manager/Marketing Scrum Product Owner Business Analyst Content Strategist Installation/Testing/ Configuration Management Other writing roles
- 9. Where jobs are advertised A vacancy for a Technical Author University milkround General recruitment agencies Jobs boards Networking/word of mouth Specialist Technical Author recruitment agenciesCompanies' websites Industry specific recruitment agencies IT recruitment agencies Social Media / Forums
- 10. Primary industry sectors IT Medical equipment Aerospace Engineering Nuclear Defence Financial compliance Consumer electronics Public Finance Initiative (Bid writers) Oil/Gas Utilities Rail Automotive Pharmaceuticals
- 11. Education and training Degree (in most cases) Technical writing training Authoring tool training Advanced techniques Formal (e.g. MISTC) certification as a Technical Communicator Other training (Mgt, Programming, Proj Mgt etc)
- 12. Skill set: Part One Primary Information gathering Language and writing skills Communication skills Information design Time management Designing for Accessibility Secondary Print management Information architecture API development Illustration/Graphic Design Website design & management User Interface design Business Analysis Customer/industry/product knowledge
- 13. Skill set: Part Two Primary Secondary Training and e-learning development Project Management Negotiation Localization Testing Giving presentations Simplified English
- 14. Skill set: Commonly used software Primary Help Authoring tool DITA Word FrameMaker Screencasting & e- learning tools Graphics tool SGML (in Aerospace) Secondary HTML technologies Programming Localisation software DTP tool (e.g InDesign) Domain-specific software skills (e.g. databases) Wikis Content optimization software (e.g. Acrolinx)
- 15. Outputs Primary User manuals (print/PDF) Help files Web-based Help pages Screencasts eBook/EPUB Secondary Help that is embedded in the application Reference/API guides Training courseware Product datasheets Mobile Help & app overlays Illustrations Bid proposals Wiki content Whitepapers
- 16. More information So you want to be a Technical Author ebook Technical Author basic/induction online training course Advanced technical writing techniques training Institute for Scientific and Technical Communicators Current technical writing job vacancies via Cherryleaf
- 17. About Cherryleaf Clear and simple information your users will love Specialist recruitment service for Technical Authors Training courses in technical communication Mentoring and consultancy Writing services
- 18. Thanks to Diana Logan, Sage Adrian Warman, IBM Thomas Proulx, Tibco Marjorie Jones, Exony Alison and Andrew Peck Craig Clarke Andrew Bush David Farbey Bernard Carney Gavin Maartens Colum McAndrew, IDBS William Waddilove Steve Whalley Keith Mahoney Ed Phipps, Ascom Andrew Westfold, McAfee Andy Mottershead, Citrix Katja McLaughlin, SAS Sandra Priestly, Vitec Videocom Adrian Morse, Picis Josephine Wooding, Ladbrokes
- 19. End