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