Demand for Technical Writers: Top 15 Jobs that You can Take Up

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Demand for Technical Writing:

Technical Writing Course has always been in demand. The reason being the specific requirements that a Technical writer needs to have while producing any document of specific technicalities.  

What does that mean? It simply means if you need to write a report for a law firm, you have to write it by using the jargon related to law. Everyone does not understand all the things.

One has to be an expert in one or a few areas. Therefore, there are a number of areas or disciplines, same is the requirements for writers in these areas.

According to Society for Technical Communication or STC, the history of Technical Writing Jobs is quite old and has been traced to World War- I, when related jobs got to be known because of the military need. According to the same source, the first advertisement for this kind of job was published in 1951, with the title ‘HELP WANTED, TECHNICAL WRITER’. This niche was particularly used in Military organizations to write a detailed document related to the operation and specifications of modern weaponry.

Who are Technical Writing Professionals?

If we define a Technical Writer in a more easy way, he/she will be a person who:

• Writes technical information in an easy way for a common user. That document may be a user’s manual, a product description, or product review, or a white paper, a diagram showing flow of a process, a software description.
• Such writing also include ‘how to guide’ and journal articles. The main job of technical writer is to refine the information in an easy and understandable way.
• This kind of writing has to help the end user, therefore a technical writer while knowing the specific jargon of a particular field on one hand, has to translate the complex information into a common man language.
• Technical writer in fact fills the gap between the producers, software designers, scientists and common users. 
• This form of writing also include preparation of policy document related to a particular area. For example, outlining and preparing organizational policy for an organization in any development sector.
• Technical writers on one hand has to have the complex detail by the designer, and on the other hand they need to be well aware of the needs of the end users.
• Professional of this form of writing understand about the reviews of end users about a product before writing about that product.
• Technical Writing jobs require the professional to be close enough to the technical team, for the purpose to make their writing more useful for the end users.
• Technical Writing Jobs professional in this category need to design graphical illustration for the product or service, select medium to present information.
• Technical writing jobs sometime need you to handle responsibilities as liabilities experts once the product is sold.
• As professional of Technical writing Jobs know the worries and concerns of the end users, therefore they may also have to help the service managers to bring improvement in the existing product or service for better consumer’s experience.
• The job of Technical writer involves extensive research. Technical writer may need to visit the plant, libraries, or working sites of the product or service for better user’s experience and knowledge.
• Some technical writing job also need you to write grant proposals.

Whatever the nature of the job may be, it is clear that a technical writer translates technical specifications of a product or service into a common man language with consistent content, and systematic presentation.

To know more about Technical Writing, watch this seminar.

Medium of Writing for Technical Writing Jobs:

• In this era of extensive digitization, most of the content is available on the internet and website. Most of the Technical writer’s jobs are through online medium. Professionals of Technical Writings jobs will have to work on producing and organizing material on websites, social media platform or through online portals.
• Technical writers may also need to prepare documents in the form of brochure or manuals to be dispatched with the product in hard-copy. The end user will need this document for operationalizing the equipment, product. Therefore a Technical Writer with graphics and illustration skills is more in demand than a simple writer.
• Technical Writers may need to direct the production of video or audio content by providing the information to be included in that video or audio message for the end users. The medium for sharing in this case may be Television or Radio or any other Streaming medium.
• They may have to write precise statements for the bill boards of advertisement. Therefore they need to be well aware of the pain points of the potential customers.

Major Role of a Technical Writer:

For effective Technical Writing, a professional in this niche has to work mainly in four areas:

Target Audience Analysis:

Before writing any Technical document, a Technical Writers professional requires to answer some or all of the following questions

• Who are going to read it?
  • Demographics Characteristics of the readers
  • Audience role and feel about the subject
  • Audience knowledge level about the subject matter and expected actions to be taken by the audience after reading the document.

Context of the Situation:

• Why are the audience supposed to read the document
  • What is the need for this piece of Writing

Purpose of the Writing:

• A technical writing Jobs professional will have to keep in mind that what would be the ultimate objective after the audience or reader read the document.
• These objectives may either to persuade the readers, or to convince and guide the readers to take some action, or take action in a particular way and no other way around.
• The writer will have to design his/her document by keeping these things in mind.

Documentation Design:

• By keeping all the above consideration in mind, the document designer will design the document by giving equal importance to the arrangement
• emphasis, clarity, precision.
• Conciseness, style and tone of the document.

Qualification Requirements for a Technical Writing:

There is no specific qualification requirement. Anyone with a passion for writing and any technical field can find a Technical Writing job. The usual practice is that an individual with a Technical degree or certification with operational and functional know-how of the subject matter, and writing passion can become a technical writer.

Top 15 Technical Writing Jobs:

1.   Copywriter:

A copywriter is a writer of persuasive writing. She/he will write to convince the reader to take some action. The action may be to initiate a purchase, promote a brand, invite someone to your website or subscribe to your email list. The ultimate aim of any copywriting piece is conversion. Copywriters are responsible to write clear and precise content for various advertising channels such as Catalogues, Websites, and online portals, etc.

The job description of this type of Writing requires the professional to be well versed about the SEO tool as well. The knowledge of SEO will ensure that the content of the writer reaches the intended potential customers. 

2.   Documentation Expert:

Documentation specialist is another high-paid job for a technical writer. According to a US job search portal ‘Glassdoor’, the average pay of a Documentation specialist is about $ 66536/year. A documentation specialist is an individual who is responsible to write, manage and maintain a highly complicated document about a product or service for any corporate business or product.

The work of a documentation specialist or commonly known as a Technical Writer is based on facts and is highly technical in nature.

He or she has to well aware of the technical aspect of the subject matter. Documentation specialist writes for a better user experience, therefore such form of Technical Writing job requires the writer to write the document in such a manner to be easily understandable by a common user.

This category of Technical writers needs experience as it has not been easy work to translate a complex technical detail into a language that is to be understood by everyone.

3.   Web Content Writer:

Due to massive digitization, businesses are positioning themselves in the online space. Every business develops its own website page for its customers. Depending on the nature of the business, product, brand, or service, there are a variety of customers.

A web content writer is an individual who has been an expert to write content for websites. This form of Technical Writing Job requires the writer to have a knowledge of the potential audience. He or she must be well aware of the pain points of the target audience.

Web Content Writer has also to be knowledgeable about SEO. Keywords should be selected in a careful manner. Keywords should be exactly like those which are being used by the customers of that particular business. A web Content Writer should also know about the modern website or Content management system like WordPress.

According to the salary information database payscale.com, the web content writer earns $32k to 70k a year.

4.   Product / Service Reviewer:

Product or Service reviewer is another Technical form of Writing, which is quite high in demand. Online brands nowadays want their customers to be attached to the brand. This brand loyalty is possible only if you keep track of your customers and address their issues about your product.

A product reviewer has to search the product that he or she has to write on. The writer himself or herself has to use the product for a realistic user experience. He or she has to experience all the aspects of the product and then write about it.

A product reviewer is a kind of consultant for the user. The product reviewer will give you a complete understanding of the product. The product reviewer also searches the users’ reviews about the product. The reviewer will guide the user about the missing information about the product.

An example of a Product review article may be to write on an online shopping application. How to use the application, the paid and unpaid features available in the application. The benefits of the premier membership for this application etc. A product reviewer can also earn from affiliate marketing.

If such a reviewer writes about a particular brand from his or her own website, and based on his/her review, a purchase is initiated, then the reviewer is given a fair share of commission by the brand or parent company of the product.

According to the job portal Glassdoor.com, a product reviewer in the US earns $ 89,638/year.

5.   Instructional Designer or Instructional Architect:

Instructional Designers are highly technical forms of Writer’ jobs. An instructional designer is an individual who is supposed to design a curriculum about a subject matter. He or she has to prepare training material. Sometimes an instructional designer is also supposed to design the assessment packages for the same instructional course. Such training material may be training manuals or guides for the trainees.

An instructional designer has to be skillful in the skills of problem-solving, innovation, writing, and research, and project management at the same time. He or she has to understand the knowledge level of the trainees for whom the instruction is made. In the digital world, many of the courses are delivered through online mediums. Therefore unlike previous, an instructional designer has to be well aware of the educational technology.

Instructional designers are employed in a variety of organizations. These organizations may be educational institutes, training institutes, businesses, military services, etc. This form of Technical Writing job has more job security than others.

According to the United States department of labour and statistics, the labour bureau, the job growth rate for an instructional designer is supposed to grow at 13% as compared to other such kinds of jobs in the next 10 years. The salary range shown by the same source is 60,050$ per year for an instructional designer.

6.   Publication Specialist:

A publication specialist is a person who manages editorial work with a variety of publication details. The editorial functions done by a publication specialist involves processing manuscripts, managing general correspondence, and the supervision of advertising function within an organization. Publication specialist has to check the quality of the content before processing for printing such as verifying the authenticity of the content, and ensuring that the content follows the standard style guides of that particular organization.

Publication specialists are sometimes responsible to handle the social media of the organizations. They write attractive captions, posting publications and updates. Such Technical writing jobs may also include writing a press release for an organization. A publication specialist must be well versed in communication, presentation, and organizational skills.

According to a Google search, a top earner in the Publication specialist niche earns $106,000 a year.

7.Technical Editor:

Technical Editor is a person who edits technical writing. Such professionals are responsible to organize content and communicate with Technical writers of the organization. The jobs of Technical Editors are mostly offered remotely, but these jobs can also be a desk-type of job.

Employers who usually hire technical editors are IT Companies, Software houses, Research facilities, manufacturers, or government agencies. These professionals need to have a grip on technical knowledge as well as editorial skills.

According to the Google database, a Technical Editor earns $118,000 per year.

8.   Medical Writer:

A medical writer is a person who writes research that is done based on clinical trials. Such a writer has to describe the research results in a clear, careful, and precise manner. This is a highly technical form of writing. A medical writer needs to be well versed in the underlying knowledge of his / her writing. This form of Writing also requires extensive statistical research know-how on part of the writer.

Medical Writer has to be very cautious about the integrity of the data that he or she is writing. He or she has to keep the knowledge updated with the latest literature reviews available.

Medical Writer salary ranges with a rough estimate to be around 

$ 55000 to $ 70,000 a year.

9.   Academic Writer:

An academic writer is a form of writer who writes for the students mostly. Such writing may be essays, research articles, or maybe thesis work, dissertation work, research proposals, etc. Though not a high-paid job like other writing careers, an academic writer is intensely a learning-oriented writing job. A nominal academic writer may charge 15-20 $ on a college-level essay in Freelance market places. But the earning depends on the time on these Freelancing sites. If you can manage giving more time, your earning can be more than this.

10.   Content Marketing Strategist:

This job is more of marketing than writing. But as Content is involved, therefore a Content Marketing Strategist has to plan and work with writing as well. The job description of Content Marketing Strategist includes but is not limited to bringing innovative concepts to create brand awareness. Content Marketing Strategists focus to create content that keeps the customers attracted to a brand. The Content must be strategized in such a manner as to retain not only the existing customers but also to attract more clients towards the brand.

According to a Google search, a Content Marketing Strategist in the United States earns $ 99, 794/year on average.

11.          Nutritional Writer:

A nutritional Writer is a form of writing in which the writer writes about health and food association. The writer may inform the reader about the health issues which are associated with food. She/he may recommend a healthy diet to the readers.

A nutritional writer works for a magazine, food blog, or with an organization dealing with health issues.

The top earner in this niche of writing earns $95000 according to Google research.

12.          Transcriptionist:

A transcriptionist is an individual who listens to audio or video file and writes what has been there. The outcome must be word-by-word. The audio or video files may be of different types. These files include phone calls, interviews, podcasts, or any other form of discussion from experts in the field.

Mostly a remote job, a transcriptionist earns $10 to $30 on the online Freelance market places. Again it all depends on your job search and the time given to the job. Your earning can be more than this.

13.     Grant Writer:

A grant writer prepares proposals to be presented to donor organizations for the grant of financial assistance. A grant writer in any specific area may gather the information, organize it and present them in a convincing manner to persuade the donor agency to approve the grant.

A grant writing document may entail all the detail of the project. This document may explain where the money goes, where and by whom to spend it, and the outcome of the money. A grant writer may also include in the grant proposal the duration of the project in which the grant has to be utilized. A grant writer needs to have strong communication skills, technical writing job skills, and knowledge of the specific area for which he/she is seeking the grant.

According to Google data, In the United States, a grant writer earns $ 69,524 a year with an hour of $ 33. The nature of the job may be a desk or even remotely managed. 

14.     Policy Writer:

A policy writer is another form of writing in which the writer document and writes the policy of an organization. The policy has to be written in a formal way and a particular style guide of the organization.

The main aim of the policy document would be to ensure that the employees understand the employer’s rules and regulations. At the same time, the policy document ensures to express the rights of the employees to be in that document.

A Policy document for any organization is a noble document that has to be followed both by the employers and employees.

It is usually a desk job and the salary depends on the level of the organization.

According to a Google search, a Top Policy Writer earns $ 131,000 a year in the United States.

15.     Information Developer:

An information developer is someone who bridges the gap between the developer and the end-user. Information developers may write technical equipment manuals, appendices, or operating instructions.

A good information developer has to be a good communicator, a skillful writer and with a strong knowledge of the technical area, he or she writes in.

According to a Google search, a top information developer in the United States earns 4 120,000 a year.

Conclusion:

The requirements for Technical Writing jobs are growing day by day. The Industry is growing and becoming more and more innovative with the advent of massive digitization. Passionate writing aspirants need to choose a niche, master the skills of writing in that particular niche and explore a lot of professional growth and money opportunities.

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• Technical Writing Course in India
• Technical Writing Course Online
• Content Writing Courses in India
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• Creative Writing Courses in India
• Creative Writing Courses Online

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