How do you break into the field of technical writing? This is a question I’ve been pondering–and fretting over–for many, many months now. I love to write and am great at explaining complicated information and ideas into simple, down-to-earth terms. After all, I do have an M.A. in anthropology, which is a writing intensive field involving highly abstract and theoretical data. There’s lots of hard science involved, too, so it’s got a little bit of everything.
Yet, experience-wise, I’m fairly bare-boned. Most employers want to know what you did to benefit a previous employer, which leaves me at a loss for words because all I did for my graduate school was give them money and add another student to their attendance rate. And the contributions I did make through my various contract positions have been meager compared to those of well seasoned writers.
While trying to placate my anxiety a bit, I stumbled upon this article: 14 Widespread Myths about Technical Writing. For the most part, I found it useful but not necessarily encouraging. Myth #2 was especially interesting:
“You can’t get a job in technical writing unless you have technical writing samples; but you won’t have samples until you have a job in technical writing.”
Call me a cynic, but after 50 resumes and not a single bite, I realized that you might not need samples but you definitely need experience to get a technical writer job. Most job descriptions say so, and those that made no mention of this requisite weren’t interested in me either. Even writing jobs that required a bare minimum of skills were beyond my extended, overly optimistic reach. Crazily, I applied twice to a job listing I saw posted at three different times in the course of the summer. Nothing.
Here’s a juicy article regarding how one hiring manager/employer scans resumes. Since my education is my strong point, to say that I felt inadequate would be an understatement. How can you prove your writing strength to an employer who seemingly disvalues a good education? The reason I mention this is because I’m considering acquiring certification in technical writing to finally get into this career field, but what good is it if it doesn’t lead to a job?
Well, whatever. These are just thoughts and concerns floating around my head. Only time will tell what happens, but in the meantime I’ll try to influence that result the best I can.
