Technical Communications: Related Links

Return to the ACC Technical Communications program homepage.

The following links are grouped according to general links about the profession, about finding jobs, about developing resumes and portfolios, and about professional societies.

If any of these links are dead or if you find new ones, contact hcexres@io.com.

In General

Although we just refreshed the following links in August 2005, some are likely to go away. Two of the best general sites for exploring technical communications are these:

• EServer TC Library. A free, nonprofit library for professional, scientific and technical communicators (such as technical writers), with the goal of providing tech comm practitioners, students, teachers and managers a comprehensive single location from which to access the best resources currently available online.
• Official TECHWR-L. Articles collected in categories, archives of the TECHWR-L listserv going back to 1993. TECHWR-L (that's "tech-whirl") is the Internet-based community and resource for technical communicators worldwide. The TECHWR-L discussion list has more than 5,000 direct subscribers and an estimated daily readership of more than 10,000 people worldwide. The TECHWR-L site serves more than two million page views per month and provides articles, features, and services "unrivaled by any other Internet-based technical writing resource" (so sayeth TECHWR-L).

About the Profession

To get a good sense of what the field of technical communication is like, try to read as many of the following texts as you can:

• Alan S. Pringle, Sarah S. O'Keefe. Technical Writing 101: A Real-World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Documentation. Scriptorium.
• Michael Bremer. Untechnical Writing - How to Write About Technical Subjects and Products So Anyone Can Understand. Untechnical Press.
• Gerald J. Savage, Dale L. Sullivan. Writing a Professional Life: Stories of Technical Communicators on and off the Job, Allyn and Bacon, 2001. There is no better place to get a detailed sense of the profession than the 23 articles in this book. All of the articles are great, but if you are pressed for time, don't miss these:
  "Glimpse into Reality"
  "How I Became a Goddess"
  "Three Months, Three Pages"
  "Conquering the Cubicle Syndome"
  "Try and Try Again: The Story of a Software Project"
  "Tech Writing and the Art of Laziness"
  "Daze at the Round Table"
  "Diary of a Tech Writer"
  "Thumbnails"
  "Madame Mao in the Midwest"

Consider taking a look at some of these as well:

• Price, Jonathan and Henry Korman. How to Communication Technical Information: A Handbook of Software and Hardware Documentation. Benjamin/Cummings, 1993. ISBN 0-8053-6829-9. Read:
• What is Technical Communication?. A site for students and teachers of technical communication at Michigan Technological University, maintained by Richard Selfe.
• Job Search. From the Newbie TechWriter site, advice from a number of people on breaking into the technical writing profession.
• Technical Writing Tools. A survey of the software applications needed in technical writing.
• Hackos, JoAnn T. Managing Your Documentation Projects. Wiley, 1994. The entire book -- yes, the entire book. However, chapters 1 - 4 (about eighty pages) may suffice for an overview.

Professional Organizations

• Society for Technical Communication
• ACM SIGDOC. The Special Interest Group for Documentation, of the Association for Computing Machinery.
• American Medical Writers Association. International professional organization for biomedical communicators.
• American Society of Indexers. An important specialization for technical communicators.
• Association for Proposal Management Professionals. Another important specialization for technical communicators.
• Association for Business Communication.
• Association of Teachers of Technical Writing
• Australian Society for Technical Communication
• Australian Society of Indexers
• National Writers Union. Affiliated with AFL-CIO.
• IEEE Professional Communication Society . Technical communication part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
• National Association of Science Writers

Here are some articles about some of the preceding organizations:

• Ten Reasons to Join STC
• Professional Organizations. List provided by TECHWR-L.
• TECHWR-L Archives. By-month archives dating back to 1993 of TECHWR-L discussion. Search the archives for information on professional organizations!

Technical-Writer Jobs

• IBM Job Listings. Job descriptions IBM - U.S.
• STC Silicon Valley Chapter Job Listings. Job descriptions from the Bay Area.
• craiglist, inc.. Provides an Austin listing of jobs and internships, plus a forum for discussion.
• STC-Austin Chapter Job Bank. Job descriptions from "Silicon Hills."
• Technical Writing Job Boards. From the Newbie TechWriter site, a nice listing of websites at which to conduct technical-writing job searches.
• Employment Central. Links to actual technical-writing jobs with requirements. Gives you a picture of the array of work that technical writers do. From TECHWR-L.
• dice.com. Specializes in Information Technology jobs; search on "technical writer."
• Yahoo! Careers. Search on "technical writer" and stand back!
• NationJob Network. Search on you-know-what.
• computerjobs.com. Good listings of technical writers plus a "ticker" on average hourly rates and yearly salaries.
  
  
• Descriptions of Major Resume Banks. By Clara Horvath at jobstar.com.
• TECHWR-L Archives. By-month archives dating back to 1993 of TECHWR-L discussion. Rather than post a questions to TECHWR-L, search the archives!
  
  
• A Mixed Bag of Job Prospects for Tech Writers Summary of an Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) report on employment trends by Joe Welinske of WinWriters.
• WinWriters Salary Survey
• Austin STC Salary Survey
• STC Salary Surveys. 1997-2000 national salary surveys, including contractors.

Technical-Writer Resumes

The following links take you to resumes of professional technical writers. (If you know of any others, contact hcexres@io.com.)

• STC-Austin Chapter resumes.
• Flamingo Communications. Resume of owner, Jeanie Egbert.

The following resources provide advice on writing technical-writer resumes. (If you know of any others, contact hcexres@io.com.)

• TECHWR-L Archives. By-month archives dating back to 1993 of TECHWR-L discussion. Rather than post a questions to TECHWR-L, search the archives for resume resources and tips, tips on freelancing, telecommuting, resumes, portfolios, and interviewing for technical writers, acknowledging resumes, developing online (Web-based) resumes, developing a letter of application, developing a thank you letter following a job interview, e-mailing resumes, formatting resumes, listing education on resumes, scanning resumes, sending resumes to agencies.
• The Write Jobs See the technical writing section.
• Resumes. Advice on technical-writer resumes, including Word, scanned, ASCII, electronic, and PDF resumes from Newbie Tech.
• Resumes & Cover Letters. Advice and samples from jobstar.com.
• Articles on Writing Resumes. From CareerJournal.com of the Wall Street Journal.

Technical-Writer Portfolios

Here are some links on developing technical-writer portfolios (if you know of others, contact hcexres@io.com):

• Portfolios. From Newbie TechWriter.
• Electronic Portfolios. Also from Newbie TechWriter.
  
  
• TECHWR-L Archives. By-month archives dating back to 1993 of TECHWR-L discussion. Rather than post a questions to TECHWR-L, search the archives!
  
  
• Savvy Online Portfolios Are All About Business. By Kelly Gates, CareerJournal.com.

Return to the ACC Technical Communications program homepage.

Maintained by hcexres@io.com.