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Technical Author

Do you want to become a Technical Author? Here is some information to help point you in the right direction:

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Technical authors write manuals and instruction sheets to help users of products to operate them successfully and fix certain problems as they arise. They could produce anything from a leaflet on using a kitchen gadget to a manual describing how to service and maintain an aircraft.

The work involves:

• understanding the product and how it works
• understanding who will be using the product and what information they require
• researching information about the product
• writing documents, presenting the information in a way that can be easily understood by the user.

Technical authors may work closely with illustrators, photographers and translators.

Technical authors usually work daytime hours, Monday to Friday. They are office-based, although some work from home. Some travel may be necessary.

Salaries range from around £15,000 to £38,000 a year.

A technical author should:

• have excellent communication skills
• have an excellent command of English
• be able to explain complex information to people with little or no specialist knowledge.

Technical authors are employed by organisations involved in computing, the internet and telecommunications, manufacturers, financial institutions, national and local government, and technical publishing companies. Some work for consultancies providing writing services for a range of organisations. Some are self-employed.

There are no set entry requirements, but a good knowledge of English, and specialist knowledge of science, engineering, technology or commerce is essential. Many applicants have HNDs or degrees. There are some degrees, postgraduate qualifications and other full-time, part-time and distance learning courses aimed specifically at technical authors. Mature entry is common, and many people join this profession after working in other areas of science and technology.

Most technical authors receive on-the-job training with short in-house or external courses covering topics like editing and proofreading or the use of new software packages. They may study for qualifications while working.

Promotion to project leader or editor is possible. Some may move into areas such as management, training, customer service and information management. Some become self-employed working as technical journalists or writing books on technical subjects.

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