Just a brief announcement: last July I published an article in the Society for Technical Communication’s (STC) magazine Intercom about how to be a strong job candidate for technical writing positions. Unfortunately, the article was paywalled, so only members of STC could access it. A few weeks ago, however, the folks at TechWhirl allowed me to re-publish the article on their website, with some modifications (since the 6-month exclusive publishing period with Intercom had expired). You can now access the article here for free: How to Be an Amazing Tech Comm Job Applicant: Tips from a Tech Comm Hiring Manager.
I’ll let the article speak for itself, but the long and short of it is this: as a hiring manager, I’ve seen upwards of a hundred technical writing applications, and the best candidates demonstrated a consistent level of quality and attention to detail across their entire portfolio—from the cover letter, resume, and writing samples to their LinkedIn profile and homework assignments. The article includes practical tips on how to stand out in each of those areas.
Anyways, if you read it, I hope you find it useful. If you have any questions about breaking into the field and applying for a position, feel free to post comments here on my blog or at the article on TechWhirl. I can’t promise a timely reply, but I’ll do my best.
Richard Rabil, Jr. 