What major/degree is required to become a Technical Writer?
March 10, 2009 by J.C. Hewitt
There are no specific degree requirements for a position in technical writing. Many technical writers have writing-related degrees such as English, creative writing or journalism. Others have degrees in fields that employ technical writers such as engineering, chemistry, computer science, aerospace, or biology. Some technical writers have completely unrelated degrees. These writers get into the business either by being promoted within the same company or hired because of industry knowledge gained on another job. Writing skill, industry knowledge and tools knowledge are what counts in a technical writing job search.
There are a growing number of technical writing degree programs. These programs focus on the creation of technical and educational documents as well as technical editing, usability testing and organizational communication. In the United States, there are technical writing or technical communication degree programs at colleges such as the University of Washington, Bowling Green State University, Texas Tech, and Carnegie Melon. Most technical writers have bachelor degrees. A few of us have advanced degrees. Although it is rare, I have met technical writers without college degrees.
My college degrees consist of an Associate’s Degree in General Studies, A Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and a Master’s Degree in English with a Professional Writing Certification. I began my career in technical writing long before I had the master’s degree. I had worked in my University’s computer department as an undergrad. It gave me the opportunity work with many different computer systems and applications. I also had the opportunity to work as a computer trainer during and after college. That eventually led to a writing and database development position. From there I got into technical writing. Almost all of my employment history for the past fourteen years has consisted of technical writing or information development jobs.
Personally, I have encountered many technical writers with no degrees whatsoever, due to the fact that in the late 90’s / early 2000’s the IT industry was largely a meritocracy, with work experience trumping schooling. This meant that a portion of coders and designers took a path into the industry that had started in their bedrooms at an early age, where they wrote and designed their own software and decided to bypass college completely.
Eventually, some of these techies discovered that they enjoyed documenting tech more than creating it, and they moved over into a writing role. Training, as you mentioned, is also a common transition for tech workers into tech writers.
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From what I have seen a writing degree is not really required for a technical writing job. The technical aspect of the job is important so that you really understand how the system works. Once you understand the system it is time to explain it and I don’t think most classes do a very good job of showing how to do this. I have a degree in education which has been very beneficial because it has allowed me to understand how people perceive what I am trying to tell them. Other than basic grammar, the most useful bit of information I have learned is the old adage
Tell them what you are going to teach them
Teach them
Tell them what you taught them
This seems to cover it pretty well.
I think the trend in technical writing is also leaning towards people who have real world technical experience over people who come from a purely non-technical (English, Communications, or Journalism) background. A lot of people leave technical support for technical writing, and are quite successful at it.
I don’t know that a Technical Writing degree is all that useful at the undergraduate level, and it may be in your best interests if your field is non-related, because it shows that you have a range of knowledge. There are some great MS/MA programs for Technical Writing or Technical Communication that may be worth it though.