Write the Docs East Coast Virtual

Technical writers always do more than writing. Our work can involve research, content strategy, UX, training, information architecture, or even tasks that have little to do with documentation. Sometimes, we deliberately develop new skills to advance our careers. Other times, we learn something simply because it interests us. Let’s talk about broadening our skills, deepening the ones we already have, and figuring out where we want our careers to go.

• Have you ever found out that a new job requires skills you don’t have? What were they and what did you do?
• Have you ever used skills from tech writing jobs to land different roles? Have you used skills from other roles to land tech writing jobs?
• For people struggling to find tech writing jobs, what other roles can provide useful tech writing skills?
• What are some valuable “extra” skills you use in your job that aren’t reflected in your job title? What makes them valuable?
• Are you trying to broaden your skills? What are you interested in and what are you doing? How’s it going?
• What skills have you acquired that have made your work more interesting? Did you learn them by taking a class, or did you learn on the job?
• Have you ever learned a skill that turned out not to be useful or interesting? What was that experience like?
• If we take on more kinds of work, we risk becoming the person who’s asked to do everything. Are you concerned about that? If no, why not? If yes, how do you navigate it?
• There’s an argument to be made for deepening our skills instead of broadening them. Have you made an effort to deepen your skills? If yes, what skills did you focus on?

Write the Docs East Coast Virtual builds community for technical communicators in and around the Eastern Time Zone. All meetups are online, and we invite anyone who is interested in the topic to attend. You don't have to live on the East Coast!

Write the Docs East Coast Virtual builds community for technical communicators in and around the Eastern Time Zone. All meetups are online, and we invite anyone who is interested in the topic to attend. You don't have to live on the East Coast!

Write the Docs East Coast Virtual builds community for technical communicators in and around the Eastern Time Zone. All meetups are online, and we invite anyone who is interested in the topic to attend. You don't have to live on the East Coast!