Trends in Technical Communications in North America

Trends in Technical Communications in North America

Christopher S. LaRoche, Adjunct Lecturer

School of Professional & Continuing Education (SPCS)
Northeastern University
March 2008

Copyright © 2008 - Christopher S. LaRoche & Northeastern University

Introduction

Welcome

• CSL Background
- Technical Writer - 13 years
- Taught technology - 8 years

• Evolution of this lecture
- Often chat with colleagues about the state of the job
market in the US and Canada
- Have a strong connection to Ireland and interested in
the technical communication field and how it emerged
and grew in Ireland the last decade
- Talked with Professor Cleary about this topic and it
seemed quite relevant and useful

Trends in Technical Communication

Discussion Summary

• Here is the overview of the topics to discuss today:

– Recent History of the Profession
– Job Growth Areas/Sectors
– Tools/Single-Sourcing
– Trends
– Where are the Jobs?
– Salaries in the US
– Degree or Certification needed?
– Full-time (Permanent) vs. Contractor
– Future


Recent History of the Profession

• Job market was totally exaggerated and wild between
1995 - 2000/2001. Salaries went crazy. Impossible to not
obtain a job if you wanted one then.

• Bust of the (dot).com economy and US recession (and
9/11) made the job market shrink unlike it had in a long
time. Jobs were scarce – and took few years to recover.
Salaries constricted.

• Since 2004, the job market has been quite strong. Many
were “flushed out” of the profession if they did not have
updated skills or gave up on this type of work during the
economic downturn.


Recent History of the Profession

• Salaries have recovered well – about the level of the pre
(dot).com bust, but salary varies wildly depending on
geographic region, technology level, and company.

• Outlook is good for the near future (next two years), with
the caveat that it depends on how weak the US economy
becomes – and that would trigger a slowdown in hiring.
Has not happened yet, but will if things get worse
economically.

• The set of skills and level of expectation of work output has
increased too the last few years. “Doing more with less” is
not only a cliché, but it is a reality in many situations.


Jobs – Growth Areas/Sectors

• The computer/technology/IT field has been the place where
most folks have found employment. It is the largest sector
and has paid the best. Hit hardest by the downturn in early
2000s, but recovered well.

• Over the next 5 – 10 years, the areas of real growth will be
the healthcare area, including bio and pharma. Software
associated with these areas will really grow quickly.
Healthcare has been growing steadily of late, but US
demographics will dictate this faster growth.

• With the American baby boomer population getting older
and controlling costs in US healthcare, this will be a huge
area of growth.


Jobs – Growth Areas/Sectors

• The computer/technology/IT field will continue to grow, but
likely at a more modest pace than the previous decades as
it is a more mature industry. Areas of most growth in this
sector will be the emerging markets: mobile and everything
wireless (both software and hardware).

• Similar to the computer field, financial services will grow
too but at a more modest pace. This has been one of the
biggest growth areas the last decade and is also a bit more
of a mature industry.


Tools

• Until a few years ago, you could know Word, FrameMaker,
and RoboHelp and be quite well placed to work in any type
of company and industry. That is changing.

• Many companies still use those tools, but one of the results
of the recovery after the (dot).com bust and recovery was
a huge pressure to reduce costs and come up with
something resembling “single sourcing” of documentation.

• With this dynamic, it makes things more exciting, but even
more pressure to learn more tools and try to keep up on
changes in the field and industry.


Tools – Single Sourcing

• Many companies use FrameMaker with Quadralay (Web
Works Publisher/ePublisher) to produce a PDF of the book
and then output to HTML - from same source at reasonable
costs. Although not optimal, many companies use this since
they can then produce both PDF and HTML. There is often
“in-house” experience with these tools (and templates),
and it is cost effective, often $700-$1,000 per licensed
user.

• RoboHelp has had difficulties on keeping up with the
market, mostly due to internal issues (being bought out by
Adobe), but they have an ability to output to a variety of
formats. Its popularity has waned as the product’s future is
cloudy.



• As a result, another help system, MadCap Flare has
emerged (from the founders of the original RoboHelp), but
not too familiar with that software.

• Another tool that has emerged and is one of the better
options is AuthorIT. You write it in a type of WYSIWYG
editor, and outputs to any format you desire (Word, Frame,
HTML, XML, etc). This is one of the better “single sourcing”
tools available, but has a steep learning curve.



• Some companies have moved toward XML-based situations
where you can then output into a variety of formats. This is
fairly high-level and still often requires either an expensive
Content Management System (CMS) or a homegrown
application, which is often difficult to use.

• This is area where many companies are moving, specifically
with using DITA to create structured documentation.

• Pretty clear that there will be some sort of “single sourcing”
tools and abilities emerging much more over the next few
years, especially in companies that have a tremendous
amount of documentation to output that overlaps. Also,
larger companies have the money to invest in this
infrastructure.


Trends

• Since the rebound of the last few years, there is a real
trend to rein in costs for documentation teams this means
several things:

– Do more with less
It is much more common the past few years to hire fewer writers,
often no editor (rely on peer editing), and be much stricter about
which software to purchase for documentation departments.

– Bringing together groups with common interests/concerns
This often includes placing different groups together or trading
information much more openly. For example, now training and tech
pubs might be in the same group or work closer to create
documentation. Usability/User Experience teams often are more tied to
documentation since there is a common interest in creating a usable
interface – both better for the user and requires less documentation!


Trends

– Outsourcing
This is when much of the work is done by either contractors or third-
party vendors. Often companies, especially smaller ones with limited
budgets and products, will use a third-party vendor to do the
documentation and not employ full-time writers or editors. This is even
more common with editorial as it is easier to justify. This trend will
likely continue to grow.

– Off shoring
From about 2003-2006 this trend really was prevalent and there was a
general view within the field that many of our jobs were moving
overseas – mostly from North America to Eastern Europe, India, and
China. Jobs had moved to Ireland a decade before, but much less
fanfare! Was a real guttural fear within the community about this and
some thought the jobs would return due to poor documentation. Did
not happen. Realistically, many jobs did move and they are not coming
back.


Trends

– Technical Writing as a “Commodity”
In some ways, technical documentation is viewed as a commodity.
Especially on very simple products, editorial processes, or even
documentation that only requires maintenance updates (beyond the
initial release). Realistically, anything viewed as a commodity can
easily be outsourced or off shored. This is important when decided on
the area you want to work in and maintaining your skill set. Flexibility
and adaptability is key here!

– The Printed Book From Tech Pubs is Extinct
Almost all companies are either starting or have either eliminated
printed hard-copy documentation or charge the customer to receive it.
The idea of delivering documentation is almost exclusively online –
either a PDF if a book motif or HTML if online help or Web-based
browser.


Where are the Jobs?

• One of the wonderful things about this profession is that
jobs are often everywhere, and you can also often work
remotely if the job is not in a place where you want to be.

• That said, the clump of the most and best technical writing
jobs are located around certain areas – mostly where the
technology companies are(!):

– Austin
– Boston
– San Francisco/Bay Area/Silicon Valley
– Seattle

• Other areas such as Chicago, Montreal, NYC, LA, Toronto,
Vancouver, etc. have decent jobs but just fewer choices.


Salaries in the US

• The pay rate for technical writers is decent. The salaries
have recovered from a few years ago. Note that these
statistics are in (weak) US Dollars and are what you could
expect in the “Big 4” areas (and New York):

- Junior/Technical Writer - 0-3/4 years ($35,000 - $45,000)
- Senior Technical Writer – 5-6 years ($50,000 - $65,000)
- Principle Technical Writer – 7 plus years ($65,000 - $90,000)
- Manager of Technical Writers ($65,000 - $120,000)

• Obvious variants on where you are working – New York vs.
Milwaukee, the size of company, as well as the technology
level required (programming languages for example).
Generally, larger companies pay the most and have best
benefits. Canada pays a bit less generally.


Degree or Certification Required?

• Been a huge debate in the profession for years about if a
degree or certification is required of a technical writer.

• The answer is that it is quite roughly 50-50 of writers
working in the field who have some sort of certification (a
bachelors or masters degree, graduate certificate, or
diploma) in technical communication and those who simply
learned the trade “on the job.”

• Quite often certification is helpful when trying to launch you
into the career, since an academic credential will often be
some equivalent of work experience. Also, when the
economy is tight, having a certification could be a
differentiator in getting the job over someone who has no
certification.


Degree or Certification Required?

• Quite honestly, having some type of certification, as well as
practical experience (such as an internship) or work
experience is a great combination to help you land a job of
your choice instead of the first job that comes along.

• If you can obtain some type of internship within the field is
so much helpful. It was how I started in the profession and
landed me my first job.

• I realize most of you are rather busy working on your
degrees and might be overwhelmed, but think about this
option if it is available.


Full-Time (Permanent) vs. Contractor

• There are many opportunities in both full-time (permanent)
and contractor jobs in the US and Canada. By its nature,
our field often has contractor jobs available for short-term
products.

• Being a full-time employee usually offers the ability to learn
products and tools well and within your work environment
and is theoretically more stable than contracting. Offers full
benefits too, which is a huge issue in the US.

• Being a contractor allows much more flexibility and the
ability to take time off. You often make a higher hourly
wage (often 10-50% more) than full time. Often people will
work through an agency to place them in various contracts.


Full-Time (Permanent) vs. Contractor

• The huge issue in the US is that being a contractor pays
more hourly, but you are responsible for all your own
benefits – mostly paying your own cost for health insurance
(which is incredibly expensive) and not getting paid for any
vacation time. You might also have to pay additional
retirement taxes if you are a fully-self employed person.


Future

• Predictions are always dangerous, but will try to give my
best “educated guess” on where we will be moving as a
profession in the next few years.

• The role of technical communicator is needed and valued in
many companies, but I also see our role being redefined
the changing over the next few years. One of the most
important things is that we are viewed as a cost more than
other areas (like development). To thrive we will have to
show our value beyond “producing books”.

• Since user interfaces have generally improved and most of
our users have a basic understanding of the Windows and
browser interface, often less general documentation about
user interfaces is often required than previously.


Future

• Documentation is needed in products, but also is seen as a
cost – so are now on the front lines of “cost cutting” and
this is solved by using contractors, outsourcing, and off
shoring. We must show we have value beyond the obvious.

• Realize that many of us might well move into other related
careers: training, usability/user experience, QA/SQA, etc.
Even while still writers, we might well perform these
functions.

• Flexibility and adaptability are the most important
components, as well as being able to work with all types of
people.

Conclusion

Conclusion

• Overall, there are many various opportunities for technical
communicators throughout North America. The last few
years have seen a rise in the number and types of jobs,
and looks to continue as long as the economy stays decent.
Just be flexible and adaptable!

• Please feel free to send me email with any questions:
c.laroche@neu.edu.

• Questions?

• Thanks and good luck.


General Links

• Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA):
http://www.upassoc.com/

• ACM SIG CHI:
http://www.sigchi.org/
• Society of Technical Communicators:
http://www.stc.org


Tool Links

• Adobe Downloads (free trials for FrameMaker & RoboHelp)
http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

• AuthorIT:
http://www.author-it.com/index.php?page=freetrial

Links

Job Links

• monster.com:
http://www.monster.com/

• dice.com:
http://www.dice.com/

• guru.com (all freelancers and short-term contracts)
http://www.guru.com/index.aspx

• UPA Jobs Site
http://www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/jobs/index.html

• STC Jobs Site
http://jobs.stc.org/home/index.cfm?

Trends in Technical Communications in North America

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