Any technical writers here?

[rennavate]

I have a phone interview for a junior technical writer position on Tuesday, but I've never done any technical writing before (my degree is in English and Creative Writing, and I have five years of journalism experience).

How should I approach the interview?

 

[dusty]

No advice to offer but do let us know how it goes. My education is in engineering but I've considered getting into this.

 

[Mr. White]

..

 

[thekunk07]

it's a tough gig to walk into with no prior experience

 

[M. Bardamu]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

it's a tough gig to walk into with no prior experience

Yeah, I had roughly the same background (journalism degree and 5 years' experience as a writer/editor) when I applied for a few technical writing gigs a while back. Other than being able to clearly explain anything so a 5-year-old can understand, the skill sets are quite different. In software, for instance, a good part of your work would be as part of a team alongside the developers, to document the workings of the product, etc.

 

[rennavate]

I had a second interview for this gig an hour ago; the dude who interviewed me was the company's head technical writer, and he called me from London (England), where he's currently stationed.

The actual interview went fairly well, from what I can tell. He aksed me to come up with a document outlining a process (he said it could be something as simple as screwing a lightbulb), so he could see how I organized information.

I have a friend who recently entered the technical writing field a year ago, so hopefully he'll help put me on the right track for this assignment.

Then there would be a third interview, this time with the CEO of the entire company.

Damn, this is an exhaustive process. Welcome to the real world, right?

 

[Pilot]

Good luck man, sounds like you're doing well. Technical writing has always interested me.

 

[rennavate]

Thanks, Pilot.

I just need to come up with something to write a document about. I was given a few days to come up with it and send it in, but I'd rather do it sooner than later, obviously.

 

[rennavate]

I ended up writing a technical document about installing RAM, and they were impressed with it, so now I have a third interview (with the chairman of the company, to boot) on Thursday morning. He's also in London, so the interview's at 9am my time.

Wish me luck!

 

[housie]

good luck, but you dropped the ball. your document should have looked something like this:

1. --------
2. --------
3. ????
4. Profit!

from what I hear, businesses love profit.

 

[rennavate]

Well, I'm happy to say I got the job. Decent starting salary, with lots of room to move up. Benefits, sweet downtown office, et cetera.

 

[roryben]

I'd never even heard of this as a profession before I just read this thread. This totally sounds up my street though... like dusty I'm in engineering too. OP can you elaborate on what you'll be working on? If you know...?

 

[Notreknip]

Originally Posted by gfreeman

Well, I'm happy to say I got the job. Decent starting salary, with lots of room to move up. Benefits, sweet downtown office, et cetera.

Congratulations bud. Now, I'm no slouch when it comes to writing, but how much to edit (or write) my masters thesis?

 

[austinite]

Originally Posted by gfreeman

Well, I'm happy to say I got the job. Decent starting salary, with lots of room to move up. Benefits, sweet downtown office, et cetera.
Congrats. What type of company is it?

 

[austinite]

nt