How to break into tech writing in 30 minutes a day

You could try to read up on some of the software and methodologies used these days by tech writers: --DITA is a popular methodology for planning/writing documentations--you can read about it online; it uses XML, so it's good to get a sense of XML as well. --A lot of places use FrameMaker to edit documents, so, if you can read a book about that or take a course in it, that's good. --Most of the time the subject matter in tech writing is software, so learning any new software systems is useful, expanding the range of operating systems you're familiar with, etc. --In general, at most large companies, software development takes place within a sort-of standardized life cycle/process flow, involving things like version control systems, daily builds, QA, bug reports, and scrum. As a tech writer, you work in that framework, so those are also things to learn about. As far as making yourself look better on paper, I guess completing a course in technical writing at a community college or a school of continuing education is something concrete you could do.

I also changed fields into writing, but with a different emphasis (medical, but I think similar things will apply to technical writing). Here are some things that I think that you can do, which may help you eventually get that job: • Before you leave your current job, have you thought of approaching your employer and asking if you can take writing projects and moreover, technical writing projects? It may great to have the experience and samples, as Kathyrn T suggests • Join an organization with peers who do what you want to do. I found that the American Medical Writers Association was helpful for contacts and meetings within my city (I also had access to a forum and emailed queries to a few people). Now I don’t know if this organization offers the same, but you can check to see if it has any meetings in your city, etc.: http://www.stc.org/membership/chapter-search.asp • Info interviews with people who have a similar background (I describe how to do this http://ask.metafilter.com/165601/Need-Coaching-The-Job-Kind-Help-WantedNeeded#2380086) – you may want to see if you can find people in your previous undergrad uni (alma mater list?). Finally, you describe what you envision doing. Medical writing may be a good fit for you, too, if you like science and have analytic skills. If you think that you are interested in that field, too, I posted a question a few years ago as to http://ask.metafilter.com/31109/How-to-break-into-science-and-medical-freelance-writing and got some really helpful replies (besides sharpening up a CV, all it took was a writing test…that’s it ...although a person would need to know how to read and interpret a primary and review artice from a medical journal plus write a paragraph to a page in response to a question)

Fellow tech writer here, seconding the advice to develop a portfolio. Your qualifications on paper are impressive; back those up with some solid examples of your writing ability and you'll look very attractive to prospective employers. Googling http://google.ca/#hl=en&q=technical+writing+portfolio will give you an idea of what you should include.

Portfolio of work that shows various document types and genres pertinent to the position being sought. From a liability perspective, do not include proprietary information. If you must, you may need to create documents that do not have legal issues surrounding them. I always suggest to students that sourceforge may be a good place to take on writing projects with the intent of adding to their work portfolio.

Open source software projects usually rely on volunteers to create documentation, both for end users and developers. It's a good way to get portfolio material (if you can get a release from them to use the doc that way), and it's also a good way to build relationships with people who might get venture capital in the future and want reliable, known people to come on board quickly. That said, "technical writing" is a huge umbrella. For example, do you want to write about software? You can focus on end users, administrators, developers, salespeople, or purchasers. (I started out writing for beginner-to-intermediate end users, and they're still my favorite audience.) Do you want to write about medical devices? That gives you patients, medical students, doctors in practice, RNs, physician's assistants, volunteers, and even camp counselors for kids with severe illnesses. I've worked with a huge range of industries while wearing a "tech writer" label: banks, publishers, web developers, architects, governmental and nongovernmental agencies, biotech firms, law firms, etc. The point is not that your margins are too broad, but that it's a good idea to think about how to repurpose individual portfolio artifacts as you create a specific portfolio for an individual situation.