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Working for Pure Play Technical Writing
Companies – PROS AND CONS
With the maturing of the Technical communication business in India, we are witnessing a growth in the quantity and diversity of technical writing jobs. One of the trends that has been noticed in recent times is the mushrooming of pure-play technical writing companies. Working for a pure technical writing company is a distinctly different experience to working as a technical writer in an organization whose core competence is product development or a service offering or such. We present here the views of people from both camps, and some who have seen both.
Views from:
If you want to participate in any future debates, please contact the column editor, Avinash Akshay.
Opportunities Galore
By Susan Alexander
Technical communicators working for a pure technical writing company [referred to as Technical Writing Service Provider (TWSP) by some other debaters – ed.] get the opportunity to work on three different types of assignments:
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The one-time assignment: usually a short User’s Guide, technical note, case study, or such.
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Periodical updates: for products that have two or more upgrades a year and require guides be updated appropriately.
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Long-term assignments: for a period of more than 6 months are usually undertaken at the client’s office.
The Challenges
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Technical communicators (TCs) in pure technical writing companies have to adapt quickly to the business of the client. This often means proactively searching for industry-specific information to gain an insight into a particular industry vertical before stepping into the client organization. While on the assignment, this quest continues to enhance your knowledge of the application that is being developed.
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TCs need to develop a detailed understanding of the product they are writing about as they are solely responsible for the content. This requires the TCs to be assertive in gathering technical information and more importantly, building the whole picture of the product. Some client organizations are willing to provide comprehensive product overviews, in others you need to push for the same.
Technical reviews are factored into the writing process. Some clients adhere to the process stringently while others cannot spare their technical personnel in time for you to meet your deadlines. This is when TCs have to take a call, together with client, as to whether the document is in a fit shape to send to the Product Managers, VPs, and management at the client’s headquarters. This places the onus of technical accuracy squarely on the TCs.
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The documents produced are critical to your relationship with the client. They indicate whether you have conveyed product information in a suitable manner for use by the audience for which the product was created. You get only one chance to establish your credibility.
The Opportunities
- You have the freedom to design documents that you feel would best
suit the client’s needs.
- The variety element is high. You have clients in a variety of industries
– finance, e-business, telecom, CRM…. Each project is a new experience.
- When projects meet deadlines and the approval of Product Managers and top management – the good work of the TCs is unstintingly acknowledged.
Susan Alexander heads Write Concept, a technical communication company based in Bangalore.
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