This document provides advice on how to market oneself as a technical author. It discusses presenting your skills and experience on a CV, networking, and demonstrating your value in the workplace. The key points are: tailor your CV and applications to highlight relevant skills and keywords; network actively on LinkedIn and at conferences; and continuously communicate your contributions and measure impact to overcome perceptions that documentation is unnecessary.

1. How to sell yourself as a
Technical Author
Bryan lade
TCUK Conference Oct 2012

2. Topics
• A bit about me
• The authoring world (UK)
• Author types & traits
• CVs and applications
• Networking
• In the workplace

3. A bit about me
• I am NOT a writer!
• Started career as an Engineer
• Previously been a: Product Manager, Project
Manager, Technical Manager, eCommerce Dev,
Marketing Manager, Business Dev Mgr,
Operations Director (now @ 3di Information
Solutions Ltd)
• Managed project to re-write the RS 20k page
catalogue (2005)
• Have managed 100+ Technical Communication
projects…

4. Managing Technical Communication
projects
• Every project unique
• Every project has its own specification, typically a mix of…
– Consultancy
– Authors
– Information Designers
– Project Management
– Quality
– Software / tools
– Processes
– Timescales
• I’ve worked with many authors on many projects!

5. The authoring world (UK)
Companies that
recognise technical
authoring
Companies that don’t
recognise technical
authoring

6. The authoring world (UK)
• Small and relatively unknown discipline in the UK
• Only two Degree courses: SH and Portsmouth
• The majority of business professionals have never
heard of “Technical Authoring”
• UK culture is that stuff gets written by others;
Project Managers, Product Managers, etc
• Don’t assume people recognise or understand
your discipline!

7. Generic Technical Author traits I have
seen – more than once!
– Poor personal communicators (email!)
– “NO ONE LOVES ME, NO ONE VALUES ME!”
– “I know best”
– Some can’t actually write
– Blinkered to the bigger (business) picture
– Weirdest dress sense (a telling sign?!)
– Practical, not creative…
– Useless at marketing

8. Author Types
• Permanent, Contract, Freelance
• Good, bad, indifferent!
• Sole authors, team authors
• Need to be told, need to tell
• Techy, processy, reporty, marketingy (and
those that think they can do it all!)
• Fell into it, pursued it

9. Permanent, Contract, Freelance
• Permanent:
– Safe & long term
– Commitments
– Constrained by location
• Contract:
– Usually willing to travel
– Good authors work a lot
– Bad authors work little
• Freelance:
– Multiple projects on go, Project Management skills, flexible,
consultative – offer solutions
You are one of these by nature, though can change over time

10. Technical Authoring – the basics
Make sure you really understand what you
(should!) do – it’s your foundation, your motto
• You represent the user experience
• You bridge the gap from product development
and design to the user
• You are not the Subject Matter Expert, but you
get the concepts of a product or service
• You articulate what “good” looks and feels like
• You make complicated things easy to use

11. CVs & applications
• Your CV showcases you as an author!
• Your CV will rarely be read
– No typos!
– No bad grammar!
– No waffle! (clear concise communication!)
• Does your CV reflect how and what you write?
• Upload your CV regularly – old ones will not be found
• Think of your CV as a database that will be searched – needs to be
keyword rich
– Documentation / information types
– Industries
– Technologies
– Tools
– Software
– Processes
– Location

12. CVs & applications
Your turn – see if you can determine what your
keywords for your CV will be?
Mine? – assuming I stay in this profession:
Director, General Manager, Operations Manager,
Interim Manager, Consultant, Documentation,
Technical Authoring, Technical Writing, Technical
Documentation, Degree, Content Management,
Technical publications, Information Design, User
Support Information, Online Help, eCommerce
(expand), Catalogue production (expand)

13. CVs & applications cont’d
• Recipients will be looking to gauge if you are a
contractor or permy by nature
• Avoid: Old fashioned feeling, too long, too short,
typo’s, poor grammar, etc. GET IT CHECKED!
• Samples & support information - make sure they
are good
– “I work under NDA, don’t have samples” utter rubbish!
• Introducing yourself: please, please, please, make
application covering emails relevant (please do
one!)
• If you are going to build a web site, please do a
good one or get it done by a professional

14. Going to build a web site?
Make sure you get the basics right:
• Pagerank?
• SEO?
• Blogging
• Use social media to link and raise awareness
• Structure & submitting for search (spidering)
• Keywords? (competition)
• How will you use it? Push or Pull - do you expect
people to find it?
• A good web site can be invaluable for contractors
and freelancers

15. Networking
• Don’t leave networking until you need it
• LinkedIn (& Twitter?) – invaluable – do it – know it
– Grow your network regularly
– Many people headhunted
– Groups = intelligence
– Your profile needs to reflect your keywords
– InMail?
• ISTC, local area groups, Conference!
• Do communicate your availability regularly:
– “If you don’t ask you won’t get”
– Telephone
– Email
– Social media

16. Networking - LinkedIn
• Top keywords in the sub
header
• Make connections
• Summary must be
keyword rich
• Get recommendations
• Make recommendations
• Complete your profile

17. In the workplace
Two golden rules you must be aware of:
• Most colleagues will not give two hoots about
technical documentation
• Most colleagues will therefore see you as an
unnecessary cost
Selling the value of what you do is not easy.
…and it’s all about cost…and cost!

18. In the workplace cont’d
Before, at interview and throughout:
• Gauge expectations:
– Do they really care / who cares?
• If they “don’t care” – make a point of speaking to them. Often.
– Do they know what good looks like?
• Articulate it – competitor analysis?
• You can’t sell something without benefits (tangible)
• Business “change” will alter the above – watch for
it!

19. In the workplace cont’d
• Communicate!
– “they don’t care/understand!”
– Do you really help them to? (poor comms?)
– Who do you need to communicate with?
– Frequency and how?
• Email updates
• Team meets, get invited to others, go present
• Wiki, web
• Samples (noticeboard?)
• Document specifications – get more input
• Person to person
Your turn – what do you do now and what could you do?

20. In the workplace cont’d
Measure (and communicate)!
– Quantitative or qualitative – do something
– Customer support
– Speak to customers
– Web stats
– Usability testing
– Translation benefits
– Legal requirements
Cost benefit ideally, but customer satisfaction if not. Your
measures should be aligned with agreed business objectives
Your turn – what do you measure and what could you measure?

21. In the workplace cont’d
• It’s a hard sell:
– Your colleagues and peers typically won’t care
unless you make it relevant and worth caring
about
– But if you measure & communicate, you can
change this
For more details please refer to Rachel Potts
excellent article in the summer
Communicator, “Measuring success”

22. In summary
• Don’t assume that anyone knows anything
about Technical Authoring or what you do
• Take time to get your CV & support information
perfect and make those applications relevant
• Network – now
• Find your value, find your supporters and
communicate your value and successes

23. Any questions?
Thank you and enjoy the conference
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