A Three-Step Plan to Becoming a Technical Writer

You could even write fictitious documents or help files - why not develop these while you're learning FrameMaker or RoboHELP? Whatever you decide to use, try to provide at least 5 or 6 samples in total, along with a table of contents and a simple, professional-looking layout.

Start job-hunting!
You can work with a technical service agency or headhunter, or try finding a job directly. If you took a technical writing class, your learning center may have internships, co-op placements, or job placement services to help you get established in the field.

Job boards such as Monster.com post new technical writing opportunities almost every day. Professional associations such as the Society for Technical Communications also have online job boards you can use in your search.

And don't forget networking - tell everyone you know about your new career! You'd be surprised who might have a good lead for your first technical writing opportunity.

Good luck!

BIO: Tanja Rosteck is the president of Words4Nerds, providing technical writing and information design services to high-tech small businesses. Her own foray in technical writing began after several years in technical support management, network administration, IT training, and tech support. Visit us online at http://www.words4nerds.com.

Tanja can be reached at tanja@words4nerds.com, and is always happy to hear from other technical writers about how they broke into the field.

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