Technical Writer

First of all, understand that you don’t have to learn it.

Every year more and more toolds come out that help place a layer between you and the native XML.  In a few years time you will hardly even realise there is XML underneath.

Likewise, Microsoft Office isn’t going to disappear in the near future.

RoboHelp I’m not so sure about. When Macromedia bought them out the product was pretty much declared dead. Then Adobe bought Macromedia and seemed to have different ideas. Not being a regular user, I haven’t kept up with what’s happening.

No matter which tool you use, it’s dangerous to base your career around entrenched technology.

My first technical writing jobs used desktop publishing tools—Ventura Publisher and FrameMaker.  Where would I be now if they were the only tools I ever used? Most likely looking for work, unable to pick my jobs, desparate for anything that came my way that suited my skills. (I saw an advertisement last week for a technical writer with FrameMaker skills, the first such job I had seen in a long time.)

So keeping up to date ensures you still have a job.

There’s one other major advantage.

Money.

When skills are in short supply, the rate goes up. It’s a simple matter of supply and demand. Learning and knowing up about tools such as DITA and DocBook before most other people know about them mean that you are likely to get better paying jobs. Not to mention that companies that are early adopters of technology are often good places to work.

It’s worth the effort.

Last Modified : September 19th, 2006
Filed under : DocBook, DITA, Tools
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