Technical writing is the art and science of producing document, which describes the technical information about the features of the product and its functionality. It is an art, because it involves the articulate use of language for communicating the information. It is a science because the presentation of the information is based on the styles, template, grammar, consistent terminology, clarity, concision, factual accuracy, information mapping, layout and design, proofreading, subject matter-expert reviews, document validation, resource scheduling, and deadline relative to product-release dates. Technical writing is not the recent development of the industry; it was present in the form of documentation in different form.
However, in recent years the importance of information communication have been felt paramount and documenting the technical information has not only become the part of communication but also the storage of knowledge for future reference and use. Technical writing and technical writers were the part of the information industry in the west from long time whereas in India its presence can be traced around two decades back. This is due to the emergence of software and hardware industry. But the real requirement of technical writing and technical writers are felt necessary for past five years, when India became a hot IT destination because of cost cutting factor and available talent pool. Almost all the product company required technical writers to document the product information in a legible manner, which can educate the user to use the product effectively. The emergence of India as global IT destination opened up a new job avenue for the people as technical writers.
Scenario
Although it does not matter which industry you're considering for a career, it probably employs technical writers. Technical writers work in computer science, medicine, environmental studies, electronics, government, cinema, the aerospace industry, and just about any field in which people must interpret and use technology. They are an indispensable part of today's technology world. Presently more than seventy percent of the technical writers are working for the Information technology Industry. Out of them, majority belongs to the western countries. India has very little share in terms of percentage of total technical writers in the IT industry.
According to some sources quoted frequently in the news, around 5000 Indian technical writers are engaged in technical writing, mostly with software industry. This includes the writers working for product information communication, pre-sales documentation and training documentation. Though this figure, according to some industry expert seems to be bit higher side. However, the demand for the technical writers is noticed ever increasing in India, but there is a dearth of people with right skills.
Indian IT industry is really finding it tough to get the technical writers from the market. Industry also can not overlook this part because this is the mandate of the industry to deliver or release the product to the customer along with the technical information in documented form. Without the product documentation the product delivery is incomplete.
What is the proposition?
The present situation where American way of looking at technical writers is being followed: every software company is looking for engineers to be the technical writers. The job is first offered to the engineers who want to make a career in technical writing and if the engineers are not available, only then the focus is turned on to other suitable incumbent. However, in software industry, most often the question is being asked, “Can engineers write well?”. Yet, they are preferred over others. The idea might be that engineers can understand technology better than the other lots. Then, what if they are not able to communicate well? In fact this might not be a generic problem. The question is now haunted for the hiring department, whom to rely on: a good writer without engineering background or an engineer without good writing skill. Software industry also truly believes in re-engineering the product and even resources. However, the belief of re-engineering an engineer into a good writer is a difficult task at hand and in some cases a utopian dream.
“Technology can be taught and learnt in a year or two, but learning a good language is the fruit of years learning process and that can not be given in a packet form” --quotes an industry expert. This holds true to the case that most of our institution emphasize on imparting technological education whereas they ignore the fact that without good communication the impact of technology can not be realized. This is indeed going to cause talent deficiency and industry might get the brunt of this sooner or later. There are some good trends coming up where some software company is weighing options to utilize services of good writers who have adaptation of learning new technology faster and translate them effectively into precise writing.
What is the job?
The job is where you do the same thing over and again. If this is your palate, technical writing may be the field for you. If you like the challenge of writing for an audience, technical writing offers you the chance to make money while just doing that. Technical writers work in a challenging, and exciting field which tests their ability to adapt to new situations and learn new skills. People who enjoy learning new things will find technical communication a stimulating career. Technical writers take knowledge from engineers, scientists, doctors and other experts and render it into forms that lay people can understand. To do this, they must have the willingness to continually learn about new subject matter. And they must know how best to present information to different audiences from technically trained people to the general public
The take on
Do you want to be a technical writer and write for the different audiences? Hold on! There is no sort cuts. The job will ask you to have few skills in you and some of them you can learn at work place as a part of the training. First and foremost is good writing skills in English and presentation skills of the information in the best-possible way. Primary knowledge of word processing tool like MS Word is required without saying. However, the company with whom you want to begin your career also teaches you the use of some of the other authoring, publishing and web help tools.
There are some of the training institutes, which provide short-term training on technical writing and placement too. There is no academic program being offered as of now in our educational system where you can be a qualified technical writer. The only opportunity you can have is to become a trained technical writer, that too with training or on job. This is a new opportunity in India and having career in this field is industry dependent and the future of this career can be well aligned with future of the industry.
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