National
| Median wages (2008) |
$29.62 hourly, $61,620 annual |
| Employment (2006) |
49,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2006-2016) |
Faster than average (14% to 20%)
|
| Projected need (2006-2016) |
24,000 additional employees |
27-3042.00 - Technical Writers
Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions. May assist in layout work.
Sample of reported job titles:
Technical Writer, Information Developer, Documentation Specialist, Documentation Designer, Engineering Writer, Technical Communicator
Tasks
- Organize material and complete writing assignment according to set standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology.
- Maintain records and files of work and revisions.
- Edit, standardize, or make changes to material prepared by other writers or establishment personnel.
- Confer with customer representatives, vendors, plant executives, or publisher to establish technical specifications and to determine subject material to be developed for publication.
- Review published materials and recommend revisions or changes in scope, format, content, and methods of reproduction and binding.
- Select photographs, drawings, sketches, diagrams, and charts to illustrate material.
- Study drawings, specifications, mockups, and product samples to integrate and delineate technology, operating procedure, and production sequence and detail.
- Interview production and engineering personnel and read journals and other material to become familiar with product technologies and production methods.
- Observe production, developmental, and experimental activities to determine operating procedure and detail.
- Arrange for typing, duplication, and distribution of material.
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Tools & Technology
Tools used in this occupation:
| Desktop computers |
| High capacity removable media drives — Universal serial bus USB flash drives |
| Notebook computers — Laptop computers |
| Personal computers |
| Scanners — Computer data input scanners |
Technology used in this occupation:
| Desktop publishing software — Adobe Systems Adobe FrameMaker; Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Corel Ventura; PTC Arbortext |
| Development environment software — Darwin information typing architecture DITA; IBM Rational ClearQuest; Microsoft Visual Basic; Standardized general markup language SGML |
| Graphics or photo imaging software — Adobe Systems Adobe Illustrator; Adobe Systems Adobe Photoshop software; Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite; Corel Paint Shop Pro |
| Web page creation and editing software — Adobe Systems Adobe Dreamweaver; Adobe Systems Adobe Flash Player; Quadralay WebWorks ePublisher |
| Web platform development software — Hypertext markup language HTML; JavaScript; Microsoft ASP.NET; Sun Microsystems Java server pages JSP |
