Things You Might Do with a Degree in
Professional and Technical Communications

In the past thirty years our world and how we interact with it have completely changed. Back then, the way we used our tools was self-evident; the processes of our day-to-day lives were self-evident; even the operation of "complicated" machines were self-evident. Today, very little about our tools, processes, and machines is self-evident. A world with so much growing complexity requires interpretation of almost everything we do. This "interpretation" is done by technical communicators. Its our job to provide communication between the creators of new technology and the users of new technology. Technical writers learn how to use critical thinking and adapt it to their work.

The information below will give you a brief overview to the job market for technical communicators and describe several opportunities students have for increasing their marketability.

Job Market

Just about every field in today's job market uses technology and communication. Because of this, technical communicators are needed in every professional environment. This has caused technical communication to become one of the fastest growing professions. Technology is constantly changing which also ensures technical communicators with a secure job market. According to the Society for Technical Communication 2005 Salary Survey, salaries of technical communicators can range as follows:

Entry-level: $42,000 -- $60,000*

Mid-level: $51,220 -- $70,000*

Senior-level: $64,000 -- $100,000+

* Actual Salaries depend on location and experience.

To find more information about technical writing salaries, visit the STC website at www.stc.org .

Job Titles

Technical communicators can have a variety of job titles ranging anywhere from technical writer to multimedia specialist. Depending on your emphasis of study, you can find a wide range of job opportunities and titles in this field. The following are examples of job titles:

Documentation Specialist
Marketing Director
Multimedia Specialist
Project Manager
Technical Writer
Web Master

More specifically, technical communications include the following areas of interest:

Computer documentation
Training development
Book publishing
Animation
Proposal writing
Document management
Editing
Article writing
Marketing writing
Web production and management
Environmental writing
Medical and pharmaceutical writing
Report writing
Game narration and design
Technical copy writing
Video script writing
VR design and production

Professional Duties

Since technical communicators have such a wide variety of skills, they are needed in almost every job field to do a number of jobs. The duties of technical communicators might include tasks such as:

Editing
Interpreting information, ideas, and concepts
Marketing
Writing instructional documents
Researching
Creating multimedia packages
Web design
Document design
Newsletter writing
Proposal writing

Student Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication

Graduates may enhance their networking and marketability through participation in the student chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. In the past six years, our chapter has distinguished itself nationally by winning the following awards:

2002: Region 5 Pacesetter Award
2003: Synopsis, Newsletter Award of Merit
2004: Synopsis, Newsletter Award of Excellence and Most Improved
2005: Synopsis, Newsletter Award of Excellence
2005: National STC Chapter of Merits
2006: International "Best of Show" Newsletter

STC meetings are typically workshops where members learn software, develop job skills, or interact with alumni or other technical writing specialists.

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