Employment
Technical writing in the UK
Overview of the UK Job Market
- Industries
- Geographical Locations
- Organization Structures
- Ways of Working
- Qualifications
- Skills in Demand
- Salaries and Rates
Industries
The largest demand for technical authors is generated by the computer software industry. Major employers include IBM, ICL, DEC, BT, and Oracle. The computing jobs are fairly evenly split between IT companies and organizations which develop software for in-house use, such as banks, insurance companies, and retail organizations. Outside the computer industry, there are jobs for people who can write about telecommunications, finance, pharmaceuticals, defence/aerospace/engineering, or manufacturing.Geographical Locations
Most technical authors work in the home counties (the counties surrounding London), the Thames Valley (extending west of London), or in London. That's because the computer industry is in the Thames Valley and home counties, while the financial institutions are in the City. Reading, Bracknell, and Slough are particularly good bets. There are also pockets of activity in other parts of the UK, including the Livingston area of Scotland (outside Edinburgh), Manchester, Cheshire, Leeds, and Cambridge. Areas where you are unlikely to find work are Norfolk, the East Midlands, and Wales.Organization Structures
Technical authors are usually found in one of two places within the organization structure: some work in a Technical Publications department, reporting to a Technical Publications Manager, whereas others are members of the development team for a project, reporting to a Development Manager. It is not uncommon to find a mixture of arrangements within a single organization.Ways of Working
About half of technical authors work as contractors rather than permanent employees. However, almost all contractors have gained experience in a permanent job before launching themselves onto the contract market, as contractors are normally expected to be immediately productive. Contractors get paid more than employees, but they do not get paid when they are on holiday or sick and they must make their own arrangements for pensions, health insurance, and so on. Most technical authors, both contract and permanent, work full-time in the office. Teleworking is slowly becoming more popular, but many employers and clients still insist on your physical presence in the office every day. It is easier to negotiate part-time working or teleworking if the employer or client already knows you well and would rather have you available part-time or off-site than not at all.Qualifications
It is not necessary to have a degree in technical communication in order to get a job. Only a small proportion of technical authors in the UK have such a qualification because most of the university courses in technical communication did not start running until the late 1980s or early 1990s. However, most employers expect candidates to have a degree or equivalent qualification, though they sometimes settle for less in people with good practical experience. The qualifications demanded depend to some extent on who's doing the hiring; a Technical Publications Manager is more likely than a Software Development Manager to look for a degree or diploma in technical communication. For positions where basic training is offered, employers obviously expect candidates to demonstrate an aptitude for, and interest in, technical communication. Here, any experience of formal writing is useful, as is a solid grounding in a technical discipline, such as computing or engineering.Skills in Demand
The ability to communicate effectively is far more important than the ability to use the word processor that is flavour of the month. You know that. I know that. But employers will keep asking for knowledge of particular publishing tools. At the time of writing, it seems that the tools most often mentioned in advertisements are (in no particular order) Word, FrameMaker, Ventura, Windows Help, RoboHelp, HDK, and CorelDraw. You will also be in demand if you can produce a Web page, using either HTML or an authoring tool that generates HTML.Salaries and Rates
Here's the bit you're really interested in. Salaries and rates vary widely, depending on level of seniority, industry, size of organization, geographical location, and fluctuations in supply and demand. Also, you may command a higher salary if you have relevant application-specific experience. For example, an insurance company looking for someone to document their actuarial application would pay a premium for a former actuary. The following table shows typical rates for people working in the computer industry in South East England outside London, as at early 1996.
Level | Salary for | Contract
| Permanent Job | Rate
------------------------------------------------------------
Junior technical author | £18,000-21,000 p.a. | £15-25 p.h.
Technical author | £21,000-28,000 p.a. | £25-40 p.h.
Senior technical author | £28,000-32,000 p.a. | £35-50 p.h.
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