© Ugur Akinci

Here are some ideas to create your own opportunities as a rookie technical writer…

Location

Location is important in finding a job as a technical writer in the hi-tech sector. No doubt about that.

U.S. Hot Spots

If you’re living in one of the following metropolitan areas in the United States, it’ll be easier for you to find a hi-tech writing job in the computer industry and telecommunications:

• Austin and Dallas, TX
• Northern Virginia
• Wash DC and Maryland
• Boston and vicinity
• San Diego, CA
• Seattle-Portland area
• New York City
• Northern NJ
• North Carolina Research Triangle area
• Silicon Valley, CA

India

If you’re an Indian tech writer, I’m aware that Bangalore, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad, India right now are good places to find a good-paying job.

A 2008 survey conducted by The Society of Technical Communication (STC)’s India chapter revealed a 10% growth in the average salaries of Indian Technical Communicators.

Canada

In Canada, Toronto and Vancouver seems to be a hot spot for tech writers at this time of writing.

Low Tech

Yet it doesn’t mean that if you’re living someplace else you have no chances of finding employment. The reason is — all tech writing is not hi-tech writing.

There is an incredible variety of jobs out there since technical writing basically involves writing instructions about how to do something. I’m simplifying it of course but ultimately that’s what it boils down to.

I know a tech writer friend who earns a good living here in Virginia, USA by writing installation manuals (alongside marketing copy) for wooden lounge chairs and garden furniture.

Here are some of the other things you can do to create your own technical writing opportunities.

Call Centers

Is there a customer service outfit or “call center” where you live? Offer them to write their policies and procedures manual to ensure uniform client service. Don’t forget to mention that you can also write and edit those phone scripts that all call centers use.

Medical & Pharma

Medical and pharmaceutical companies employ a lot of technical writers, preferably with knowledge of medical terminology. They need writers for tasks ranging from drafting lab procedure manuals to writing those tiny little folded prospectus sheets that you find in every medicine package.

You can always use your copy writing skills as an entree to technical writing.

Radio & TV

Is there a radio or TV station where you live? They always need someone to write their ad copy, direct mail pieces, and other related office correspondence. Some stations hire paid “fellows” for news gathering and analysis. You can start as general office help and then offer to write their newsletter, web site, blog, “Fact Sheets” and “Rate Cards,” etc.

Religion

How about churches, synagogues, mosques, ashrams and other houses of worship? They always publish brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, membership communications that require the regular services of a professional writer.

Non-Profits

Or a firehouse, any other non-profit? You can offer to help them raise the funds they need by writing a grant proposal, plus, write their newsletters and membership fundraising letters.

Proposal Writing

Proposal writing is an excellent and always-in-demand type of technical writing niche if you know how to do it well. And you can practically do it from anywhere once you build a track record. However, for rookie writers, it helps a great deal if you live in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Training

You can start as a trainer for any company since writing your own training materials is technical writing in a broad sense of the term. (In one company that I worked in the late 90s, we used to write user and system admin manuals one day and training materials and PowerPoint presentations the next.)

Military

Do you have a military base nearby? See if they need a civilian contractor to write any manuals, SOP guides, or any procedural documentation that the military generates and uses on a regular basis.

Alternative & Renewable Energy

Global warming and high oil prices created a lot of new opportunities for writers in the alternative energy sector.

Interview subject matter experts and write user manuals on how to set up solar panels and wind turbines. You can then both sell these timely money-saving guides for profit and also use them as samples to find work with alternative energy companies, utilities, and related advocacy-groups and non-profits.

Websites

Have a website to display you bio and writing samples.

Buy and read a few good books on technical writing.​

Online Class

Take a technical writing class online or at your community college, university or any other educational institution nearby. Write as many manuals and guides as you can. Post only a few pages as samples but don’t forget to provide a link to the whole PDF document. Then send your web site link to prospective employers together with your cover letter. That’s an excellent way to respond to job postings. Your web site, as you keep building it up with new samples, will be your best friend in your job search.

Last but not the least: remember that technical writers do not only write “manuals and guides” but they also

• create slide presentations,
• write blogs and web content,
• write product specifications (“specs”) and marketing requirement documents (MRDs),
• write “scoping” documents,
• create flowcharts and illustrations,
• write benefits documents for HR departments,
• translate existing documents and web sites to other languages,
• write “testing and QA scripts,”
• take meeting notes,
• and perform many other tasks.

And here is a Craigslist tech-writing-jobs feed for dozens of cities in the USA and India: https://www.technicalcommunicationcenter.com//jobs/

Good luck and happy hunting!

More Resources:

ZigZag Your Way to Success by Changing Jobs

4 Hi-Tech Technical Writing Jobs That Pay Well

 7 Low-Tech Technical Writing Jobs That Pay Well

 10 Non-Hi-Tech Writing Jobs for Technical Communicators

 A Blooming Writing Niche for “Green Technical Writers”

 Job Ideas for Technical Writers in an Age of COVID-19 Pandemic

 HOW TO FIND A JOB AS A NONFICTION WRITER: Job Hunting, Employment, and Career Advancement Guide for Nonfiction Writers

 9 Point Check-List — Is Full-Time Technical Writing the Right Job for You?

 How to Find a Technical Writing Job – Some Ideas and Resources

 4 Questions & Answers for Those Entering the Technical Writing Job Market

 Technical Writing Job Opportunities for Rookie Writers

 How to Get That Very First Technical Writing Job…