Who Are You Looking For?

Technical communicators—writers, editors, designers, Web developers—are involved with information design, usability, quality assurance, marketing, editing, online Help authoring, instructional design, graphic & technical illustration, requirements analyses, design specifications, database & system architecture, and product guide books, for example.

Confused by Diverse Technical Fields?

Technical communication is as diverse as our economy.

“Specialization” is broader than with other professions: instructional designers create and publish training materials regardless of the subject or tool used. Experienced professionals tend to be good leaders and managers, though their résumés show a succession of apparently independent, sole-writer, contracts.

The good technical communicator rarely focuses narrowly on a specific skill set, such as Java, .Net, or Sarbanes-Oxley. Outstanding professionals rarely limit themselves to the use of a particular tool set, such as MS Office^®, Adobe CS^®, etc.

How Do You Find a Technical Communicator?

You can place job opportunities on Internet job boards (such as Dice or Monster), contract through local staffing agencies, find independent writers through the Yellow Pages, or engage companies such as ours that specialize in technical communication. You can also search the online databases of professional associations and their chapters or other organizations, such as the Software Contractor’s Guild or the local chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.

Can a Candidate Do The Job?

As with any field, of course, some candidates don’t have the experience or skill to step in and do what you need done. You can write and administer tests to check for competency, but those tests will probably hurt you and the candidates since no one test can span the diverse fields in technical communication. You should ask for examples or a portfolio of work a candidate can show to be his or hers.

You can also look for affiliations with relevant professional associations, such as the:

• American Society for Quality
• Society for Technical Communication
• IEEE Professional Communications Society
• Association of Teachers of Technical Writing
• Usability Professionals' Association
• International Association of Business Communicators

Membership in one or more of these organizations shows that the candidate keeps up with trends in the field and indicates his or her support for professional standards and ethics. Our staff, for instance, are members of such associations.