Technical Writing Analysis Essay Examples

Technical writing jobs are primarily about researching, designing, and developing a variety of documentation, including end-user guides, technology documentation, and database documentation, among others. Therefore, it is expected that technical writers have strong writing skills and are knowledgeable about various technical writing styles and standards, processes, and documentation tools. It is anticipated that technical writers will be proactive in keeping themselves abreast on trends, changes, and best practices in the technical writing industry, and will participate in efforts to improve team processes, practices, and deliverables.
Survey results show commonalities in terms of identifying specific behavioral competencies required of technical writers such as ability to work in a team environment, efficiency in time management, organizational skills, proactiveness in finding solutions to team problems and improving processes, and great communication skills. When it comes to technical competencies and educational requirements, the survey also showed similar results in terms of preferred educational background such as degrees in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and other technical courses, as well as knowledge on various programming languages including C, C++, and Java.
Though the above are desirable skills of technical writers, I am surprised that not much emphasis is placed on how having writing or communications degree such as Bachelor's degree in Journalism, English, Communication, Education, or Information Technology is more advantageous if one wants to succeed in the technical writing industry. In addition, experience in industry tools such as RoboHelp, FrameMaker, and Arbortext Epic, including the use of markup languages, such as XML, SGML, or HTML are not emphasized considering these are the current trends in technical writing. Even the use of content management systems (CMS), like Documentum, is not highlighted as much as the use of Microsoft Office tools.
Taking the working definition of technical writing and adding the above information, I would say that it would be a fitting description of the real essence of technical writing if the educational requirements and industry tools are included in the description of what a technical writer is and how to become effective and successful in this field.