One job area that the WRD program prepares students for is a career in technical writing. WRD Majors can take courses like Technical Writing (WRD 204), Writing in Workplace Contexts (WRD 301), and Writing and Metadata (WRD 322). Graduate students can also prepare for work as a technical writer through the Professional and Digital Writing concentration of the MA in WRD. Careers in technical writing can be found in a wide range of industries—from software development, to healthcare, to business. In this article, we’ll provide you with some resources to help you get your bearings in the field of technical writing and get started on landing that dream job.
Connecting with Tech Writers
If you’re interested in a career in technical writing generally, the Society for Technical Communication offers many resources to help you advance your career and connect with other technical writers. There is a Chicago branch of the STC, which hosts local events and has a scholarship fund that gives $1000 annually to a local undergraduate or graduate student pursing technical communication. The STC also operates a wiki site, the Technical Communication Body of Knowledge, which aims to collect and organize information about the field that can be hard to track down since it is spread across so many disciplines. If you know more specifically what industry you would like to work in there are more specific professional associations such as the American Chemical Society, International Society of Managing and Technical Editors, the User Experience Professionals Association, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
A number of WRD faculty members—including Prof. Ceraso and Prof. Dush—have connections to STC and to professional technical writers in Chicago, too, so don’t be shy about reaching out to them.
Job Boards
Here are a few job boards that can be used to find jobs in the field of technical communication.
- STC Job Board
- ISMTE Job Board
- AWC Job Board (Contains general communications jobs. Use keywords such as “technical writer” and job functions filter for best results.)
Internships
Finally, if you’re unsure whether technical writing is the career for you, start with an internship. Chicago ranks among the top 10 metro areas in the US by number of technical writers, and there are many local companies that hire interns. You can search Handshake or job sites for “technical writer” and “internship.” But also don’t hesitate to identify local companies that hire technical writers—a LinkedIn job search for “technical writer” in Chicagoland is a good way to find these companies—and then to reach out to them directly to see if they hire interns.
Happy job hunting!