I usually get in between 9:00 and 9:30 A.M. I turn on my computer and while it's booting up, check my voicemail to see what crises have arisen since I left the night before. If I have no voicemail, I get a cup of coffee, the first of two or three during the day. Once the computer's up, I check my e-mail, then spend some time talking with my coworkers, especially if it's Monday and they have good stories from the weekend.
After returning phone calls and putting out fires, I spend most of the morning writing and editing, unless I need to get a manual to the printer or I have a meeting.
Writers in my department are responsible for all aspects of their documents, from planning to writing to getting the electronic deliverables (printable files) ready to send to the print vendor. I've also put some of my manuals on the company Web site.
Each project team usually meets weekly to discuss progress, which means I have four to seven meetings each week, not including impromptu meetings called to review drafts of manuals or to handle sudden research or manufacturing issues. Projects, such as a new instrument or reagent kit, are accomplished by interdisciplinary teams composed of people from marketing, research & development, process development, manufacturing, technical communications, and so on. There are also staff meetings, where a department such as technical communications gets together to discuss what happened and what its people did since the last meeting.
After the morning writing and/or meetings, there's lunch. I usually go offsite with a few coworkers or one or two friends from other departments (we have a cafeteria, but I don't like the food). I met most of my friends in other departments by working on project teams with them. If I've just finished a project, I reward myself by going out for sushi. Celebrating accomplishments is important in any job.
After lunch, I check voicemail and e-mail again. (On a slow day, I check e-mail about 10 times.) The afternoon is spent like the morning: writing, editing, or in meetings. I take some time to walk around and check with people in the various project teams if I need information from them or if I have information to share with them. I also return voicemail from people looking for a manual or for information that I have or that I might know where to find.
I enjoy networking, and I find that if I go out of my way to help other people, they'll do the same for me. Because I work on many projects across the company, I know more of what's going on than do most people who work in only one department. I know about new projects before they're dropped on my desk.
After 5:00 P.M., our department gets quieter as people go home. I work for another hour or so, check the e-mail one last time, then leave around 6:00 or 6:30. We don't have set hours; we just have to get the work done.
What I Like Best About My Job
The best thing about my job is that I write creatively while helping people. They follow my instructions to use our company's reagent kits to test food for harmful bacteria, to find new genes, or to show which suspect could or could not have committed a crime. My work has very tangible results.
When I explain my job to my friends and relatives who aren't scientists, I tell them about the real-world applications of my work, adding that I "explain science to normal people." They immediately understand and approve. Try explaining the K" X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy of metallo-proteins (my post-doc work) and its utility (if any) to your relatives in less than 100 words. It doesn't work.
Technical writers help people do what they need to do. The corollary to this is that our work is read by many people. A friend of mine pointed out that my work is read and used by thousands or tens of thousands of scientists, more than any but the hottest papers in Science or Nature. Besides, I get to see my work in print 10 or 15 times a year.
On a more mundane level, I like being told that I've done a good job. That seems to happen more in industry than in academia, where you're told, "good work, but you need to repeat it and do five more studies like it."
What I Don't Like About My Job
Like any field, technical writing has its disadvantages. Some of them are common to other fields as well.
Repetitive stress injury (RSI) is the biggest job-related hazard for technical writers. Because we type and use the mouse (the most anti-ergonomic thing in existence other than high-heeled shoes and neckties) most of the day, our wrists and hands are particularly vulnerable. Eye strain and lower back strain can also occur. When working, take frequent breaks-at least once every half hour-especially if you're working a lot with a mouse. If your hand is often sore, you probably already have an RSI. If you have chronic pain, see your doctor.
Tech writers are also susceptible to stress, mainly because of deadlines and juggling too many projects at once. Frustration commonly occurs with project teams who think that your document is a much lower priority than you do and act accordingly. Frustration with project teams who think you're a glorified typist also occurs, although this occurs less often for scientifically trained writers. Sometimes there's frustration with your boss, who wants the document to be perfect when you just want to get it out the door.
Another source of frustration comes from paperwork. More and more companies are obtaining ISO 9000 certification, which states that the company follows certain written procedures consistently. ISO 9000 works well for manufacturing processes, but not as well for technical documentation, where it can complicate your job unnecessarily. The problem often is not the standards themselves, but how they're written. The people who write the standards seem to feel that because there must be standards, the standards must be complex. In this case procedures can get in the way of doing your job.
How Is This Like Grad School And Postdoc Work?
Skills- Technical writing uses many of the same skills: analytical, scientific, and computer.
Challenges- Writers are constantly learning new scientific procedures and computer software.
Networking- Writers have to make contacts to find out the information they need to do their work, to find out the latest advances in their company's field or in writing, and to find out where the goods jobs are. This includes attending scientific or technical writing conferences.
How Is This Different From Grad School And Postdoc Work? (The Bottom Line)
Salary- According to the Society for Technical Communication (sort of like the AAAS for tech writers), the average technical writer in the United States makes from $45,000 to $50,000 per year. In the Bay Area, which has the most technical writers and technical writing positions, it's closer to $55,000. Starting salaries here are in the mid-$40,000s, which is comparable to the average starting salaries for Ph.D. research scientists without postdoctoral experience.
Independent contractors and consultants (freelancers) can make much more than that (hourly rates start at $50 or $60 for experienced writers), but they usually have to pay their own benefits. In general, an experienced technical writer's salary will plateau around $70,000 unless that writer becomes a manager or a freelancer.
Job Stability- Technical writing is an expanding field with very good job prospects in many areas of the United States and Canada. It is also a very portable field: you can write almost anywhere that has phone service. Telecommuting is very common.
Better Hours- Most writers work from 9 to 5, give or take half an hour to an hour, and never on weekends unless a deadline makes it absolutely necessary.
Equipment- Each writer has his or her own computer, usually a high-end Macintosh or Windows machine with a large monitor. Our department has two high-speed printers and a scanner. If we're writing about a new machine that the company plans to release, we can borrow a machine if it's small or we can use one in a lab if it's large. If we're writing about new software, we get a copy of it to play with.
Interpersonal Skills- People skills are more important to a tech writer than to a research scientist, because we get information from other people, not from running experiments.
