Arranged Marriage

By Ramesh Aiyyangar

The year ahead (2004) is predictably a good year for technical communicators in India. “So, is the demand for technical writers increasing?” This was the question most technical writers asked me when they visited the Employment Booth at the 5th Annual Conference of the STC India Chapter.

Revival

And the answer is Yes! There is a revival of recruitment in the technical writing community and some big companies plan to cumulatively absorb at least between 500 and 600 technical writers over the next two years.

According to experts who had registered with the Employment Booth, technical writing job opportunities are gradually, but perceptibly being revived. After the recent slump, the graph has resumed its ascent.

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But where is the best place to find these opportunities?

This was one of the reasons for organizing the Employment Booth at the STC India's 5th Annual Conference. There couldn’t be a more productive venue, or a better place to make a beginning, than the STC Annual Conference.

Focus Areas

The Employment Booth concentrated on two goals:

Provide information about job opportunities and candidates looking out for jobs
Create an environment conducive for interaction between recruiters and technical writers looking out for better opportunities.

To achieve these goals, the STC India Employment Booth was advertised on all relevant discussion boards and mailing lists in India, well before the conference. Job advertisements from employers were collected in advance. Candidate resumes were also collected and kept ready in folders, sorted by the cities in which they wished to work, or were willing to relocate. This enabled recruiters to zero in on the right candidates.

The Employment Booth brought together big recruiters such as Dell, Oracle, TCS, Cognizant, VERITAS, Hughes Software Systems, and Selectica on one hand, and several technical writers from different parts of the country on the other.

Franciso Abedrabbo, Pravin Prabhakar, and Vimmy Raj, members of the recruitment team representing Oracle, perceived a revival in the employment scene for technical writers, both at the entry and senior levels. The job postings on the TWIN mailing list bear testimony to this fact. There were requirements for around 330 technical writers during the last six months.

Premium Skills

What specific skills do recruiters look for? In general, the recruiters seek technical communicators with experience, and knowledge of advanced tools like Adobe FrameMaker, WebWorks & RoboHelp to meet their documentation requirements.

Some of the company recruiters feel that the job opportunities for technical writers are bright as demand still outstrips supply. But the challenge is in hiring the right people.

Final Observations

The Employment Booth was a fabulous opportunity for me to tell fellow-technical writers that the TW community is growing fast. With more than 500 new requirements over the next 6-24 months and many more to come, the future looks bright. Hope, the Employment Booth has some more good news to offer this year.

Wish you a very happy and prosperous new year!

(Ramesh Aiyyangar, who managed the Employment Booth at the STC India Conference, is a Senior Technical Writer with VERITAS Software, Pune. He is also a member of the STC India Administrative Council.)

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