What a technical writer really does
You learn how complex things work from busy experts, then explain them so anyone can follow the steps.
FieldCreative and media
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for technical writers, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Writing and organizing manuals, help articles, guides and procedures to a strict style standard
- Editing and standardizing drafts written by engineers and other staff
- Updating existing docs when the product or process changes
- Interviewing engineers and studying specs, drawings and test builds to understand what you are documenting
- Choosing screenshots, diagrams and tables that make steps clearer
- Tracking versions and revisions so the right document matches the right release
- Maintaining online help and knowledge base content
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- Precision is everything. A wrong step or value in a procedure can cause real harm or costly support calls. Importance of being exact or accurate: 75% extremely important; Consequence of error: serious 30%, fairly serious 49% (O*NET Work Context)
- A lot of the job is repeat work: the same structure, style rules and checks, over and over. Importance of repeating same tasks: 76% extremely important (O*NET Work Context)
- You have freedom in how you write but often little control over what is on your plate. Freedom to make decisions: 65% a lot of freedom; Determine tasks, priorities and goals: 55% limited freedom (O*NET Work Context)
- You deal with frustrated people more than you might think, often busy engineers or unhappy users. Dealing with unpleasant, angry, or discourteous people: 45% once a month or more (O*NET Work Context)
- Version tracking is a core part of the job, not paperwork on the side. Maintain records and files of work and revisions: importance 93, Core (O*NET task 2)
How people get into it
Paths vary. In O*NET's education survey, 35% of workers report needing an associate's degree, 33% a bachelor's degree and 16% some college. Many enter from engineering, science, IT or English backgrounds and build a portfolio of sample docs. Job Zone 4 means several years of related experience is common.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks at Corvane Systems, a fictional company, with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: The trial cannot show watching a product being built or tested in person, or using industry tools like FrameMaker, MadCap Flare, DITA or Git based docs systems. It also cannot show the long process of earning engineers' trust over months, or the deep subject knowledge that comes from years in one field.
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
Other careers you can try
Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 27-3042.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.