Careers in Technical Communication

 

Technical writing is a core business skill in high demand, yet few tech writers become famous. They work hard, constantly need to learn new things, and collaborate with all kinds of smart and difficult people. But they can also earn a very good living and work at the forefront of technological and scientific change. If this sounds exciting rather than harrowing, check out KU's technical-communication program! It could lay the foundation for wonderful things.

Careers in technical communication include writer, editor, web designer, indexer, production expert, graphic designer, reporter, usability expert, and many more job titles. Whatever your expertise and interest, you can find interesting work in the field.

Also, most professional positions require excellent technical-writing skills. At some point in our careers - sometimes every day - we are all technical writers!

The following links represent a wide array of technical communication resources including further training and employment information.

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Careers and Training 

The University of Kansas Career Center  Great resource for helping you focus your career goals.

Careers at Microsoft  Ask your instructor for a personal account of what it's like to work for Big Bill.

Technical Writing Job Resources  A list of companies compiled by yahoo that employ technical writers.

Write Jobs  Specialty job board and career resource for media, publishing, and writing professionals.

Bookjobs.com  Publishing industry jobs and internship listings.

Editorandpublisher.com  Job classifieds for editing and publishing jobs.

Technical Writing Jobs at Monster.com  Articles and resources.

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Technical Writing Resources

Society for Technical Communication
The STC is a membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication.

Technical Communication Online  Journal for STC; includes current issue, book review, online forum.

Eserver Technical Communication Library  A comprehensive portal to online resources in professional, scientific, and technical communication.

Eserver TC library: Careers:Usability  Document describing the profession of usability.

The International Council for Technical Communication (INTECOM)  Aims to improve technical documentation and communication through international cooperation between technical communication organizations.

Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC)  News and information on conferences and forums.

Exploring Technical Communication  A 30-minute streaming documentary about the field of technical communication including documentation writing, usability testing, and project management.

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For even more resources, see this site's "Useful Web Links for Technical Communicators" page.