This article discusses about the boom in Technical Writing and Tips on choosing a good Technical Writing Institute
Technical Writing has been around for almost a decade. However, quite recently, it has acquired widespread attention in India. The number of people interested in becoming a technical writer has increased following many openings for Technical Writers and Technical Documentation Specialists.
The recent technical writing boom in India has sprouted quite a large number of Technical Writing Institutes in India. Bangalore being the IT capital, has Technical Writing Certification Institutes which offer a course from anywhere around Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 in a duration of 15 days to 3 months. A seasoned or an experienced Technical Writer may wonder what on earth these institutes teach. Well, if there are students willing to pay, there would be institutes willing to ask for such fees when there is nothing really to learn on technical writing from an institute.
All that is required for becoming a technical writer is:
- Good or Excellent writing skills
- Basic Knowledge of Computers and Programming Languages
- Knowledge of HTML, XML, CSS and Photoshop are an advantage
If you do not have the basic writing skills, it is not recommended to purse a technical writing career.
100% Job Placement
A common statement while enquiring a course center would be, “We provide 100% Job Placements”. Well, that’s a lie.
Kavitha, who recently finished her technical writing course in a center in Bangalore India, mentions with regret, “I was told that they would provide me 100% job placement with a whole lot of other promises. But when I finished my course, there was no information about placements. When I went along with my batch mates and asked them, they mentioned that they will only guide us how to get a job and asked us to update our resumes in Naukri, Times Jobs and Monster. This was disappointing. Don’t we know how to update our resumes in job portals?” She further stated, “In the end, they did not even provide a course completion certificate rather a participation certificate after spending 30,000 rupees. It was a huge mistake I chose this institute“
Crash Courses
Do not join crash courses. You would just end up spending the money in few days instead of months. You would not be able to coupe with the speed and end up confused. Always take time while learning. You need time to learn, practice and prepare to become a technical writer.
Facilities
Check how the center is equipped to provide you all the training that is required. If the center has few computers and the student strength is outnumbered, it’s just not the right technical writing center you need to choose. The center should also have at least the most important softwares:
- Robohelp
- Frame Maker
- Adobe Photoshop
- Visio
Make sure that they also provide all required study materials. Remember you are shelling out a 5 digit fees and that’s no small a number. You need to get for what you pay.
Syllabus
An ideal technical writing course would start with the basics of writing, the difference between a content writer and a technical writer and basic writing tips, tricks and techniques.
The technical aspects of a syllabus would touch html, xml, css and should spend sufficient hours to make a newbie aware of what they are. The course should end with excellent training on Robo Help, Frame Maker and Visio – the three most common Technical Writing Tools.
If the technical writing institute is also willing to teach you Photoshop and some basic designing and formatting tips it is an added goodie to your course package.
And finally, it’s the English writing skills that finally counts. Technical Writing is just not for everyone. You can enjoy your job and excel in this lucrative career if you have a real passion for writing.