h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I got a BS in Written Communications (only four or five different classes and I could have gotten a concentration in technical writing instead of "imaginative" writing). And every job opening for technical writers that I see requires 3-5 years of experience in that field, plus usually one or two years experience in design of refrigerator toggle switches or magma-sniffing or insert-obscure-technical-specialty-here.

How do I get a foot in the door, apart from building a time machine and going back to college days to take a stupid internship back then?

I've been doing data entry for three or four years, training others for almost 2 years. I've done some Quality Control -type stuff at work, documenting problems with new software so the programmers could go back and mess it up worse every time. Seems like all that documentation was sorta related to the idea of technical writing.

Got any suggestions? Sorry if this seems like talking shop, but I'd like to get a job where I don't have to meet a production quota for how many entries I make into the database each week.

[for that matter, if you know of a street corner or crossroads where I can sell my soul to get the Great American pirate Novel published, that would be even better than a technical writing job.]


Texas is swell! Love that Texas! Did I mention my wife is from Texas?

damn thing won't turn yellow. Turn yellow, damn it!

It is indeed the *yellow* rose of Texas.

Sorry for the delay in response. I've forgotten how to log on at home. Tried every possible ID and password combination I could think of and nothing worked, drat it.

Most definitely there are entry-level tech writer positions. There are job posted specifically for entry-level positions. They're sometimes also called junior tech writers. Keep you eye out for those.

There are jobs that want you to have not only 3-5 years tech writing experience, but also know C++ and be able to disarm a nuclear bomb in under 40 seconds. Don't get discouraged, not all jobs are like that.

It sounds like you have a little experience, but do whatever you can to bulk that up. Try to learn some of the most commonly used software packages, such as FrameMaker. Become familiar with variety of software, hardware, and operating systems. The more you can demonstrate the ability to learn software quickly and familiarity with terms and concepts the better off you'll be. Also remember, tech writing covers many fields, not just computers. I've seen job postings looking for someone with strong familiary with motorcycles to write user manuals for the bike. Focus on what interests you. Anything that comes with instructions is from a company with a staff of technical writers. Of course, you can also tell which companies don't care about their instructions.

Do a neighborhood newsletter. Do volunteer work where you can write. Anything involving documenting something is best, but any thing that results in a writing sample is good.

You'll also have the best luck with small companies. Small companies almost always mean you'll have a variety of tasks. If you can get a job doing what you do now, and branch out, you'll be able to put actual job experience on your resume and have work-related samples.

Hope this helps a little. Best of luck!