Think of this blog post as an open letter to hiring managers who hire technical writers, either as staff or contractors. And to technical writers who are looking for their next assignment.
It seems like every week we talk with a hiring manager who prioritizes tool experience over proven technical writing ability and a sharp mind. Or a writer with a resume that emphasizes the list of tools they’ve used, and downplays their real skills and accomplishments.
Here’s a Secret: It’s Not About the Tool.
Tools in the technical writing industry are more the same than different. All authoring tools support the same key feature, entering text. I’m using Google Docs to write this, but I could have used any of literally thousands of other tools. I’ve only used dozens, but I’ve never run across one that was so complicated I couldn’t use it after a day or two. The companies that create these tools have tutorials and documentation for how to use them, and have pretty much flattened the learning curve.
You may be thinking to yourself, well, that’s not true for us because of X, Y, or Z. Like we have automation for version control and collaboration. Our writers need experience with Javadocs or Git or Markdown or Swagger. We use DITA to produce more consistent documents, so we require experience with DITA.
Yes, an experienced writer should be familiar with some collaboration tool. And some docs-as-code tool. And some project management tool. And maybe some content management system. But the specific tool that you use is probably a lot like others in the same category.
Tool experience is useful, but you are very likely overestimating:
- The difficulty of learning to use the tool effectively
- The importance of the tool to the job of technical writing
You may be underestimating:
- The importance of efficiently developing high-quality content
- The importance of core skills of great technical communicators
The content that goes into the tool is what makes technical communication effective.
The abilities to acquire, understand, organize, and articulate complex technical information are core skills of a great technical writer.
The understanding of the subject matter and the audience is critical. Tech writers understand what the audience needs to know to be successful with the technology. They can abstract, generalize, specialize, and simplify.
Great Technical Writers Can Use Any Tool. They’re Smart. They Figure it Out.
Plus, great writers have many other skills that almost never get asked about, like these:
- They write extremely well, and their writing samples prove it.
- They read well and voraciously consume even poorly produced, vague engineering specs and email strings that often pass for background materials.
- They interview experts well and ask insightful questions.
- They work well with others.
- They help experts discover higher-level abstract concepts, and then explain how those concepts relate.
- They aren’t overwhelmed by complexity or code.
- They understand and empathize with different audiences who often have very different informational needs.
- They are self-directed.
- They understand technical documentation best practices.
- They are intellectually ambitious, emotionally grounded, and friendly.
- They learn new authoring, automation, collaboration, and project management tools quickly.
Skills like these are much more important than specific experience with any tool, and yet, they rarely appear in posted job descriptions or come up during interviews. Instead, hiring managers routinely focus on a specific sort of computer programming, experience with a certain tool, or both.
Recently, I’ve seen outstanding candidates passed over while managers wait for weeks or months for an often non-existing candidate who’s used a particular flavor of Java or C or JavaScript combined with authoring experience using an arcane eclectic tool set. (My business partner Denny refers to this recruiting strategy as “Waiting to hire a purple squirrel.”)
So instead of asking about specific tools, ask about experience writing in a structured, scalable way. Have the candidate tell you about that experience and how they liked it. With this skill, writers can anticipate structure in their writing and apply that skill in any context.
My advice to hiring managers is to reconsider how you evaluate potential writers for your team. Think less about the tool, and more about the writer. If you do, you’ll make more successful hires faster. And my advice to writers is to emphasize the core problem-solving skills that enable you to understand and communicate complex technical information. And that includes the ability to understand and make effective use of any new tool that you encounter.
Of course, if you ask Expert Support for help with technical writing, we’ll tap into our proven network of great technical writers. Chances are good someone in our network will be looking for a new assignment just when you need them most. Of course, the more lead time we have, the better. Click here to tell us exactly what kind of help you need, and when.
And if you’re a technical writer looking for the next cool assignment, reach out and tell us about the kinds of projects that you’d be thrilled to take on. Our pipeline might have just the right project shaping up, and we’re trying to find you right now. Click here to learn more about how you can join us. I look forward to hearing from you.
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