Where the Jobs Are

by Mark Ace

Who's hiring these days, and what are they looking for? There are national trends, and there are local trends, and since this is a local article, let's stay local.

In the job category of technical communicator, which includes writers, editors, training developers and related skills, Oregon is doing fairly poorly. Oh, did you want to read something you didn't know? Before you hyperlink to another article on a more cheerful topic, let's summarize a few of the major trends depressing the local tech comm employment picture:

Mergers and acquisitions: This is a good trend if you're a corporate governance attorney, but if you're a content developer for a technology company, it's bad news. The Portland region continues to lose company headquarters and software development sites. Every time a company in Oregon relocates its headquarters to another city (or country) it doesn't take long for the jobs to follow.

Cost-cutting: The hangover from the dot-bomb reign has been a lot more painful than anyone would have anticipated. One symptom of that is that it seems a lot of companies have learned how to get by with minimal or non-existent product documentation. At the same time, have you noticed that corporate profits are at very strong levels the last quarter? That's partly because everyone who is still employed is doing the work of several people. Productivity is at extremely high levels and hiring is at low levels. Maybe that means companies are about to start hiring again soon. But before you make any large bets on that, there's another trend to consider.

Off-shoring: This trend has yet to hit writers in the US as directly as it has hit our colleagues in software development. That's because it's a lot harder to outsource good content development for the native English-speaking business consumer than it is to do it here in the US. But that does not prevent the trend from impacting us. Because eventually the writing will follow the engineering; maybe not in the next couple years, but in the long run. And there are a lot of people in the world who will gladly do an hour's work for approximately the price of that grande vanilla latte you bought on the way to work today. Off-shoring is an inevitable trend that will start to affect the domestic writing industry, probably more slowly and less blatantly than the software development outsourcing. But we are starting to feel it, and will feel it more in coming years.

The combination of skills and experience that employers are looking for is as varied as ever, with one major exception: there's a lot less hiring of staff or contract positions. That fact has changed the dynamics of the hiring process. The hiring pace of technical communicators has slowed down, allowing employers to specify and wait for exactly what they want. Employers are much less willing to compromise. If they want a specific combination of industry experience, tools expertise, domain knowledge, and interpersonal skills, they know they can afford to be patient until they find a very close match. And they can get the person they want at a bargain price compared to four or five years ago.

Given these hiring conditions, we're seeing some hiring trends that we can comment on.

Tools: All the usual suspects are in demand: FrameMaker and RoboHelp, Web authoring, and fluency in all the supporting technologies of publishing. The more a writer knows about how Web sites are served up, how help is compiled, how single-sourcing works, and so on, the more valuable they are.

Communication skills: In addition to knowing the tools of the trade, it's important to be fluent in the fundamentals of communication. That includes interviewing and research skills, the ability to define and communicate to specific audiences, ability to write for different media, basic understanding of adult learning and usability, and so on.

Technology: In general, the more technically literate writers fare better in this environment. The ability to talk to engineers in a knowledgeable fashion is a distinct advantage. This does not mean that you need to know how to write code, but it means you should know the basics of whatever technical architectures you are involved with.

Interpersonal skills: The way you work with your co-workers and your interpersonal reputation are more important than ever before. Managers want to hire people who integrate well into workgroups, handle stress and ambiguity, and know how to resolve conflict without interjecting their own personal attitudes into everything. If two candidates are equal in background, tools and experience, the person who demonstrates a mature, collaborative nature will always have preferential positioning.

In general, everything that has traditionally been important in hiring decisions is magnified in this tight employment environment.

Recommendations for staying on your game

Deepen domain knowledge – If you work in software documentation, stay current in basic development trends. If you work in the health sciences, continue to study and learn. A writer needs to be well informed in the field in which they write. If you have down-time, use it to extend your learning.

Broaden and update the portfolio – Don't be pigeon-holed by a narrow portfolio. If you're light in a certain category of the business, make an effort to round out your experience. For example, many writers have found good opportunities in technical marketing roles. But this kind of writing is different that straight tech comm. Not everyone can make the transition, but for those who can, it's important to have portfolio pieces.

Keep your network active – These days, most jobs are filled long before they're ever posted publicly. It's very important to stay in touch with peers and associates who hear about the open positions and contract opportunities.

Develop a backup plan – A lot of people have left the tech comm profession over the last few years. There just have not been enough jobs for everyone. The job opportunities could easily come back over the next few years, but I've given up on the forecasting business. For people who are not sure they can continue to thrive in the business, it's a good time to evaluate other opportunities.

Author

Mark Ace is the owner of Ace Communications, a full service agency providing writing, editing, design, and staffing services for companies seeking the best in technical communications. The company Web site is www.ace1.com.