What makes a technical writer?

At HCi we have a huge database of technical writers, all of whom have undertaken an extensive battery of tests at our offices.  We advertise constantly for new people, and we currently (May01) have 2410 on our database.  Just out of curiosity, we though we'd run some statistics on our database to find out the answer to the question: "Just what makes a technical writer?"

Out of the total of 2410 people, we characterised 765 (32%) as 'experienced', and the rest of these figures refer to that subset.

A large number (56%) were competent in at least one programming language, although only 14% were actually ex-programmers.  Very few (0.03%) had a technical communication qualification, reflecting the fact that there are few if any degree courses in technical writing in Australia.  Even fewer (0.02%) had a journalism degree, and not many (0.08%) had a teaching qualification.  However, most (54%) had some qualification - but this was anything from Theology to Industrial Design.

It's interesting to draw a parallel between technical writers today and programmers 30 years ago - in the early '70s, qualified programmers were rare, and most organisations that employed them were using aptitude tests (similar to the testing that we do on our candidates) to identify suitable people.

A surprising number (55%) have no experience with any online documentation tools.  Over 30% speak at least one language other than English.

Choosing the right person for the job involves:

• knowing what the job itself requires; this in turn requires an experienced writer to assess the needs of the project or organisation
• finding just the right person with those requirements
• being able to contact that person and have them available at short notice

Using our database, we currently employ about 10% of the total employed technical writers in Sydney.  This puts us in a unique position when it comes to resourcing our own, and our clients' writing projects. 

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