Technical Communication Career Opportunities

Programs offered by the Lewis Department of Humanities will provide you with many opportunities in the fields of history, philosophy, literature, the arts, and communication.

Selected career opportunities include journalism (B.S. in Journalism of Technology, Science, and Business) and technical communcation (undergraduate and graduate programs in the TechComm program).

Spotlight on Technical Communication

What is technical communication?

Technical communication is a field that analyzes, recommends, and implements methods of conveying usable information, often from experts in a technical or scientific area to non-experts or to experts in another area (for example, how to present medical information so that patients can understand it). Increasingly, technical communicators also apply and contribute to research about the effective use of technology, design, and language to convey nontechnical information (for example, how to effectively design an e-commerce Website).

What kinds of tasks might a technical communicator perform?

1. Designing usable documents (in both print media and non-print media such as the Web)
2. Writing text for documents
3. Editing text, layout, and other elements of documents
4. Creating graphics for documents
5. Designing curricula for trainers
6. Teaching or training
7. Managing the processes of document production
8. Testing and evaluating documents for usability (i.e., for accomplishing the goals of document and curriculum designers)

Most professionals must acquire a broad range of skills and perform multiple roles in this fast-paced, ever-changing field of technical communication. In some cases, one person may perform many different tasks at once (e.g., as an employee in a small business or as a freelancer serving a variety of businesses). In other cases, one person may specialize in one or several tasks. But in nearly every case, a technical communicator will serve in many different roles over his or her career--perhaps starting with just a few entry-level skills, but acquiring expertise in many areas while assuming increasingly responsible positions.

What is the job market like for technical communicators?

In April 2006, Money Magazine ranked technical writing as #13 of the 50 best jobs in America. Editor, public relations specialist, and writer also made the list. As detailed at www.stc.org, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 46,740 technical writers in 2007, an increase of 3.1% over 2006. On the basis of membership surveys, the Society for Technical Communication reports the average nationwide salary in the profession as $62,780. This figure is higher in the Chicago area ($69,880) and in other areas with substantial high-tech industry (e.g., San Jose, CA). Some senior managers report salaries in six figures. In addition, due to the growing practice of outsourcing publication tasks to non-company staff, many entrepreneurial technical communicators achieve great success (and significant financial benefits) through freelancing.

What job titles are used for technical communicators?

1. Document designer, Web designer, information architect
2. Technical writer, online information developer, documentation specialist, proposal writer
3. Technical editor
4. Graphic designer, technical illustrator, desktop publisher, Webmaster
5. Curriculum designer, course developer
6. Technical trainer
7. Publications manager, document production supervisor, project manager
8. Usability expert, end-user advocate

What does a document designer do?

1. Analyzes the characteristics of audiences or document users
2. Analyzes tasks to be performed by users (e.g., learning, doing, creating, making decisions, solving problems)
3. Selects an appropriate medium (e.g., print, digital, or other) to enable users to accomplish the tasks
4. Creates templates and guidelines for page or screen layout, graphics, text, and other elements
5. Creates and manages text, graphics, and publications databases for use in generating materials

What does a technical writer do?

1. Researches (gathering information from published sources or through primary research)
2. Interviews and confers with content specialists (collecting information from and with subject-matter experts)
3. Generates text (by organizing information into appropriate units, signaling relationships between ideas, and conforming with appropriate guidelines for style and usage)
4. Revises text for organization, cohesion, and style
5. Generates information for tables, charts, graphs, illustrations, photographs, and other visual elements of a publicationóor in some cases personally generating these elements

What does a technical editor do?

1. Reviews and revises text to insure that institutional goals have been met
2. Reviews and revises text to achieve greater clarity or usability through cohesion, style, and usage
3. Reviews visual elements for relevance, consistency, placement, and accuracy
4. Reviews and revises documents to insure effective interaction between text and visual elements
5. Reviews and revises documents to insure that design criteria have been applied thoroughly and consistently
6. Creates publication standards and style guides

What does a graphic designer do?

1. Creates tables, charts, drawings, graphs, photographs, and other visual elements
2. Implements details of layout criteria using specialized software or other tools
3. Uses mark-up codes (e.g., HTML, SGML, XML) and specialized software to make text and visuals viewable on Web browsers
4. Generates publications using desktop hardware and software
5. Performs liaison with printers and other publication vendors

What does a curriculum designer do?

1. Creates documents (manuals, job aids, tests, questionnaires), CD-ROMs, and Websites to be used for training
2. Selects and modifies classroom activities (lectures, discussions, workshops, hands-on tasks)
3. Selects and modifies interactive components for distance learning

What does a technical trainer do?

1. Implements curricula, making adjustments to allow for individual differences
2. Tutors and counsels learners
3. Provides evaluative feedback to learners and to curriculum designers

What does a publications manager do?

1. Selects and monitors project and publication teams
2. Insures that careful records are maintained, so that a documentís history can be recovered and a particular version of a document can be quickly and easily retrieved
3. Supervises staff to meet deadlines, resolve conflicts, increase productivity, etc.
4. Prepares budgets and schedules
5. Reports to upper management

What does a usability expert do?

1. Examines materials and observes users under careful, precise conditions
2. Tests and evaluates products and procedures
3. Generates criteria for evaluation
4. Selects and applies appropriate statistics and other measures
5. Consults with clients, producers, and end-users

What kinds of software do technical communicators use?

1. Word processing (MS Word)
2. Document processing (FrameMaker, Quark Xpress, PageMaker, Acrobat)
3. Databases (MS Access, Lotus Notes, FileMaker)
4. Spreadsheets (MS Excel)
5. Web and multimedia (HTML, SGML, RoboHelp, WinHelp, Java, FrontPage, NetFusion)
6. Communications (MS Outlook, email, FTP)
7. Administration (MS Project)
8. Graphics (Illustrator, PhotoShop)

How 'technical' does a technical communicator have to be? How much knowledge of science and technology is necessary?

The answer ranges from very little to a lot. For example, the editor of a company newsletter for employees may need no technical background whatsoever. An Web designer for a firm that develops sites for client companies may need only the ability to gain a quick understanding of basic concepts about the companies. At the other extremes, a Web developer must have considerable background in computer science; a medical indexer must usually have a strong background in biology or health fields such as nursing; a senior publications manager in a high-tech field such as telecommunications must bring considerable subject-matter knowledge to the position.

What are some of the personal qualities of a good technical communicator?

1. Curiosity (to be able to discover key concepts, working assumptions, and practical applications of emerging technology and innovative business strategies)
2. Good verbal skills (to communicate with clients and co-workers)
3. Cooperativeness (to perform tasks that require interaction with others)
4. Dependability (to complete assigned tasks on schedule and in conformance with guidelines, goals, and company needs)
5. Flexibility (to adjust to rapidly changing job conditions and deadlines)
6. Good humor (to deal with conflicts and problems without creating more conflicts and problems)
7. Independence (to perform individual responsibilities with minimum supervision)
8. Initiative (to look for opportunities to identify new problems, needs, and solutions)
9. Leadership (to guide those who need help and to facilitate good interaction among other workers)
10. Originality (to be able to find new solutions and techniques, and not just to implement the directions of supervisors)
11. Teamwork (to be able to subordinate individual preferences when necessary and to enhance the performance of co-workers)

Questions