When I was young, I had my whole life planned out until the big 4-0. I'm embarrassed to admit that my youthful enthusiasm even included a Pulitzer in the mix! While I certainly planned on being a writer, I never fathomed I would become a technical writer. Heck, I had been working for quite a few years before even hearing of technical writing.
Yet each of my pre-technical writing careers led me to where I am today. Since I came to technical writing with backgrounds in both media production and training, my long-term goal when I started out was to eventually hold a dual role as a technical writer/trainer. And while many of my roles have tangentially involved training materials, training has unfortunately remained an as-of-yet unfulfilled dream.
During this recent job search of mine, I started contemplating the path my tech writing career has taken, and I've been wondering where to go from here. Would I like to segue into instructional design full-time? Yes! How about developing online content? Yes to that too! In fact, I would love to get more involved in multimedia, if I could convince a documentation department that producing podcasts can lower customer support calls. Ok, so I prefer variety. Irregardless, what's the problem, beyond my needing to choose concretely which path to follow next?
As we all know, shifting needs equals shifting priorities. It used to be that technical writers fell into one of two categories: 1) Writers that developed technical materials, and 2) Techies- usually engineers- that documented. In turn, companies tended to prefer hiring one category over the other. Perhaps my view is biased, as I fall into the former category, but in my experience, companies that employ writers do so because they see how good documentation enhances the company's bottom line long-term. Conversely, companies that have techies document are typically concerned with the short-term costs. Both approaches are valid depending on the company's vision and approach to their personal economic climate.
But when an economy "contracts", as in the current North American scenario, many companies do away with technical writers all together. To quote my favourite recruiter of all time, Mark F, tech writers are the first fired and last rehired during an economic downturn. That's strike number one if you're a writer versus techie. But couple strike number one with preferred strategy of seeking highly specialized candidates during a recession, and you face a double whammy when seeking employment. One of the most frustrating hurdles I have faced in the past several weeks is outcome of these trends, namely companies seeking candidates with 5+ years experience in X technology/technical environment. And companies are willing to repost the same ad repeatedly, ad nauseum, until they find a candidate who boasts the appropriate years/skill combination.
As for how to respond to the current employment scenario, let's return to those original categories of technical writing. One thing my mentor Beth always used to stress was staying relevant. And by staying relevant, she meant staying on top of the curve, not simply following tech writing trends. One exciting shift in the past few years has been the blurring of the line between tech writing and content development. While companies may be holding out for ideal candidates, if you have developed copy for an employer's website, assisted the PR department with their latest video, or designed CBT due to feedback from Customer Support, you may just find yourself in good shape in the current market. To rephrase, tech writing is no longer simply about tech writing. Sure, as a tech writer, it was always your job to sell the product in addition to documenting it, but now solid experience in doing both in a variety of formats is essential.
Where does all this leave yours truly? I'm trying to figure out whether I want to start branching out more towards multimedia or instructional design. To be honest, given that the latter includes elements of multimedia, I'm currently learning towards instructional design. As always in my life though, only time will tell.
Happy job hunting everyone!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment