---
title: "Advice for budding tech writers"
url: https://campbell-online.com/blog/2006/07/13/advice-for-budding-tech-writers/
description: "Over at the TECHWR-L list, one of the members is getting set to deliver a talk on technical writing as a career to a group of home-schooled high school students, and."
published: 2006-07-13
updated: 2006-07-13
---

# Advice for budding tech writers

Published 2006-07-13

July 13, 2006 · [Technical communications](https://campbell-online.com/blog/category/technical-communications/) · [Knowledge work](https://campbell-online.com/blog/category/knowledge-work/)

Over at the [TECHWR-L list](http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/index.php3), one of the members is getting set to deliver a talk on technical writing as a career to a group of home-schooled high school students, and [asked for advice](http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/archives/0607/techwhirl-0607-00265.html).

After [answering the questions](http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/archives/0607/techwhirl-0607-00278.html), I realized I had just written a pretty good blog post!

> *1. What students can learn now to help them prepare*
>
> Read everything you can get your hands on, and not just technical stuff. A budding tech writer needs to have a broad base of working knowledge. Over and over, you will be asked to come into a new situation cold and quickly become an “instant expert,” learning the process or product well enough to teach others about it.
>
> So keep that cortex limber: be reading and learning all the time.And write. If you can find a good editor to work with, latch on to that person like a barnacle, and write (for publication if you can) as often you can.
>
> *2. What colleges are good to attend for this type of work (I know these don’t precisely correspond to those with “technical writing” as a major)?*
>
> Attend the *very best* college or university that you can (a) get into and (b) afford; your course of study matters much less than being challenged to write and think by good instructors and having intelligent peers to help you grow intellectually as well.
>
> You don’t have to go to an Ivy League school, but be aware that the resemblance of most colleges these days to actual institutions of higher learning is purely architectural; make sure that you’re getting value for the dollars you and/or your parents are spending.
>
> *3. What salary range could they expect?*
>
> The STC salary survey provides good guidelines for what starting technical writers make in various parts of the US.
>
> Note that these high school students, should they become tech writers, will be competing with tech writers in offshore locations who make in a range from $10-15K USD per year; to be successful in the long term, tech writers must develop their “soft skills” and also pick areas to work in that are difficult to outsource or offshore.
>
> Getting a well-rounded understanding of the business world is an immense help; take some basic business classes at college, and read the *Wall Street Journal* at the library or take advantage of the cheap student subscription rates.

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