Life as a Technical Writer in Australia

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#technicalwriting #technicalwriters #beginners
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
1:11 Swapnil's origin story as a Tech Writer
4:13 Technical Writing degree experience
6:15 Career journey so far
9:02 Software v. other domains
10:30 Australian tech writing industry
12:25 Breaking into the Australian tech writing industry
14:26 Tech Writing Salaries in Australia
16:20 Visa requirements
17:08 Applying for technical writing jobs in Australia
22:30 Tech Writing in Australia v. US/India
29:13 Season of Docs experience
33:24 Advocating for Technical Writers

[@ArunKumar-mv6bl]

I have been a technical writer in aerospace documentation for almost 3 years. I never never felt passion towards technical writing like developers do... But lately watching your journey make me passion towards technical writing like developers do.... And realised that I have been in a wrong technical writing industry to felt that way. Now started to change the industry. Thankyou 🙂

[@heathercloward8318]

Swapnil is a great mentor! Great interview Amruta 😁

[@19sp49]

Thanks to Amruta and Swapnil. I'm an instructional designer/eLearning developer contractor in Australia. I target digital transformation type projects (mostly ERPs like SAP). I often get roped into taking on other functions, eg, business analyst (BAs), project management and organisational change management (I not super keen on these functions, they're ok in small doses). Having solely been in digital transformation projects for quite a few years now and having worked across several industries, it's just occurred to me that I haven't ever encountered a dedicated technical writer. This function seems to be nested in other roles (e.g. BAs, functional experts and me as an instructional designer). These contracts are pretty competitive and very lucrative $900 - $1,100 (and sometimes higher) a day). At some point, I'm going to transition from a contractor to an instructional design/eLearning company (and target the same projects as I do now). I'm thinking about adding technical writing to my offerings. I've got part of this covered, but after watching quite a few of your videos, it's clear I've got some pretty big gaps! Looks like I've got some learning and lots of practice to do :)

[@LacunalFreak]

16:11 - I disagree with the statement that tech writer roles aren't on par with business analysts/testers. I looked at salary comparisons between tech writers and BAs, and they're similar across seniority levels (+- USD$10,000). Sure, BAs may be higher if a company has a stigma against tech writing, but if the technology giants are starting to realize that they deserve similar salaries because the job functions are similar, then companies will take note.

[@AmrutaRanade]

good to know!

[@shreyasdeshpande]

As insightful as always but what caught my attention particularly this time is Google Season of Docs, Fantastic Any other companies are doing the same thing as Google that you might know about?

[@AmrutaRanade]

Google Season of Docs isn't restricted to Google projects. Any company can participate!

[@igumzels6033]

Ma'am please make a full tutorial on DITA for software documentation.

[@AmrutaRanade]

I don't have extensive experience with DITA, sorry!

[@igumzels6033]

@@AmrutaRanade what tools do you use for software documentation ma'am.

[@AmrutaRanade]

@@igumzels6033 GitHub, Docusaurus, GitHub pages, and VSCode

[@amulyac6600]

Hi Amruta, I have a question- for someone with a speech disability (read: stammering/stuttering), how do they navigate through a technical writing career? Is it a welcoming career space for people with disabilities? Thank you- Amulya.

[@AmrutaRanade]

Hi! I'm not the right person to answer this question since I have no experience navigating a tech writing career with a disability. I'd recommend asking the folks on the r/technicalwriting subreddit

[@nicoleford4654]

Question. I want to take an online Technical Writing Course, get a certificate, and start freelance technical writing, what is the best training course to take?

[@AmrutaRanade]

I don't have extensive freelancing experience but a certificate won't help you start a freelancing career. I recommend working on your portfolio instead. As for a course, start with Google's free tech writing courses or this one on Udemy: www.udemy.com/course/tech-writers-master-class/