Technical Writers’ Questionnaire

I designed this questionnaire to gather information about careers in technical writing by asking technical writers about their experiences in the profession. Taking this survey of technical writers meets a course requirement in TW110, “Starting a Technical Writing Career,” in Brooklyn College’s Technical Writing Certificate Program (http://www.io.com/~hcexres/brooklyn/index.html) in which I am enrolled. I’ve posted samples of my coursework in the program at http://eolsonwriting.com.

Below, I briefly describe myself and my concerns about writing. Then I present the survey questions. The more questions you answer the better, of course, but you needn’t answer any of them. When you’re finished, please email the form to me at . Your identity will not be included in the results of the survey, which I will present to my instructor and other students in the course. Thank you for your assistance!

Eric Olson

At 57 years of age, I’m considering making a significant career change. As a young adult, I drew great satisfaction from being a professional student, earning a master’s degree in clinical psychology and doing much doctoral work in the field. In the end, however, I found myself so incurably nervous with close contact that I’ve never used the degree. In the many years since, I’ve held various positions in a business-forms distribution warehouse. An old fascination of mine with writing, however, persists—for me, revising text is one of life’s great pleasures. Still, although very dissatisfied with what I’m doing now, I have misgivings about technical writing. My age and lack of technical knowledge are concerns, and there are others. I’m hoping your comments and experiences will help me resolve some of my doubts.

Questions

Please type your answers directly after each question. Then save the form before emailing it to me.

1.  What is your age?

2.  What is your current job title?

3.  How many years have you been in technical writing?

4.  What subject matter have you written about?

5.  What are your specific job duties now?

6.  What formal or informal training in writing have you had?

7.  What do you find most satisfying about your work as a technical writer? What do you find most frustrating?

8.  Describe the skills you bring to your work, as a hierarchy, from the simplest to the most sophisticated.

9.  What is your typical workday like? What percent of your time do you spend writing?

10.  How have you developed as a professional during your career? What roles did formal training and work experience play?

11.  What software tools do you find most valuable as a writer?

12.  Do you think that technical knowledge about subject matter can usually be learned on the job or is it more often a prerequisite to employment?

13.  Has your work generally been full-time, part-time, contract, or some other arrangement? Have you ever telecommuted? Have you been satisfied with these arrangements?

14.  Describe your specific role and responsibilities in your current or last writing team. What was the overall writing process like? If you work alone, describe which aspects of writing projects you are usually responsible for.

15.  Feel free to add any comments you wish about your experiences as a technical writer.