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Education Plus
An enjoyable profession guidance plus
B.S. WARRIER
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We conclude this series by looking at technical writing as a career.
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After 10 to 15 years in the profession, you may head a division dealing with technical communication in a large organisation.
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
— Aristotle
You may find opportunities to work either alone as a technical writer or in a team. Also, you can work as an employee or as a freelancer. If working alone, you will have to assume all responsibilities right from data collection and planning to delivery, feedback and updates. This means that you should have full competence to grasp technical concepts, unlike when you work in a team that
includes engineers.
If you work in organisations engaged in technical writing, there are chances for your work to be monitored, assessed and corrected by more experienced hands.
This will help you to develop competence in the profession. You may gradually move from simple to complex assignments, making a steady growth.
Do not imagine that once a technical writer, always a technical writer. You can climb the professional ladder, on the strength of your performance and experience. You may be designated as a technical communicator and thereafter a team leader.
After 10 to 15 years in the profession, you may head a division dealing with technical communication in a large organisation.
A freelancer has to maintain high levels of efficiency in the world of competition. It is often said that a restaurant is judged based on the last meal you had there. The principle applies to freelancing technical writers as well.
Training facilities
There are no regular university courses in technical writing. But several organisations in India and abroad conduct short programmes in this field, most of which focus on online training. Normally, a university degree is considered the entry qualification.
Fairly good command of the English language and a flair for writing enhance the training prospects of the candidates. The candidates should be computer savvy.
The curriculum content is not the same in all such programmes. However, the following areas are among those usually covered.
•Basic grammar
•Basic rules of technical writing
•Command line interface
•Computer software for technical writing
•Document development lifecycle
•Document management and maintenance
•Documentation standards
•Editing and reviewing technical documents (language, formatting, flow, review and proofreading)
•e-learning
•Explaining technical procedures
•Garnering information about hi-tech systems
•Graphics in technical documents
•Graphical user interface
•Managing large documentation sets.
•Methods of information gathering, interviewing, validating information
•Quality function and standards for software documentation
•Revisions
•Rewriting
•Software development lifecycle
•Software tools
•Style and style books
•Technical writing standards
•Tips and tricks
•Writing introduction, summary
•Writing user guides, memos, reports, letters, installation manuals
•Writing with clarity
Certain companies run in-house training programmes on technical writing with the help of hired faculty. Often, technical writing is carried out by people from other disciplines who have gained skills through work experience.
Short training courses
A few organisations in India that undertake technical writing assignments conduct short training programmes. An indication is given below.
Since the institutions may change the training style to be in step with the trends, there may be changes in the training pattern. Details may be gathered before registration.
Writers Block, 421, Carlton Towers, B-Wing, Airport Road, Bangalore – 560 008. It has units at Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Palakkad, Coimbatore and Vellore.
Technowrites Private Ltd, Golden Square Business Centre, 102, Eden Park, 20, Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore – 560 001.
TASC Consulting Private Ltd, D2/10, Khira Nagar, Santa Cruz (W), Mumbai – 400 054.
Adroit Techno Soft (P) Ltd, 8-2-247/A/1, opposite Mirra Trade Centre, Panjagutta circle, Hyderabad – 500 062.
Triumph India Software Services Private Ltd., 22, D. Rajgopal Road, Sanjay Nagar, Bangalore – 560 094.
A career in technical writing has fine prospects.
Those who have genuine interest in writing will find this as an enjoyable profession. Many may be carrying the dull baggage of lacklustre school assignments in writing. Realise that professional technical writing is a different kettle of fish.
The unprecedented growth in technology results in a large number of users with hardly any grounding in related technology. This generates the need for an efficient interface in the form of competent technical writers.
More articles in this series at http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/nic/0051
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