Technical Writing Jobs - What salary?

[Shonan]

Ive been applying for a fair few tech writing jobs of late and have been getting some decent feedback from a few companies. Most are asking for a salary range - I was on 55,000 as a teacher and dont want to drop to far below that so have been quoting 50,000 and upwards. As a first timer into a role like this, do you think thats reasonable or do I need to go lower?

Obviously I want to get into this kind of work but I also don't want to be fleeced....

[irishstu]

I've been applying for a fair few tech writing jobs of late and have been getting some decent feedback from a few companies. Most are asking for a salary range - I was on 55,000 as a teacher and dont want to drop to far below that so have been quoting 50,000 and upwards. As a first timer into a role like this, do you think thats reasonable or do I need to go lower?

Obviously I want to get into this kind of work but I also don't want to be fleeced....

Given your situation, I think what you are quoting is fair.

[sandman]

You can't actually go much lower -- the minimum they can pay you (assuming that they're providing your work permit) is just a little under 50k.

[kellohitty]

For a first timer with no experience, that is a fair wage to ask for. Actually, you should ask for at least 60,000 just to give room for negotiations. Expect some negotiating. The worse that can happen is that they offer you less than 60 and you were already expecting that anyways.

The salary actually ranges from 50-70,000. As you have no experience, you would be on the very bottom of the pay scale. Once you do have a couple years of experience, you can expect around 55-60,000 at least.

[jdsmith]

Curious. What are the qualifications for this kind of writing? Does one need a background in the field at hand, or fluency in Chinese readnig and writing? Or is this a translating Chinglish to English kind of thing?

jdscratcheschin

[irishstu]

Curious. What are the qualifications for this kind of writing? Does one need a background in the field at hand, or fluency in Chinese readnig and writing? Or is this a translating Chinglish to English kind of thing?

jdscratcheschin

Depends on the company, jd. My job required no knowledge of Chinese. Also it's not a case of fixing Chinglish (in my case). It's a case of writing manuals and documentation from scratch.

Most important factor is that you're a native English speaker. If you have a background in computers or engineering, then this will be seen as a bonus. Obviously if you have previous experience doing tech writing, this helps, but is not always necessary.

[Shonan]

Well thanks for all your advice peoples! I have the interview coming up on Tuesday morning so fingers crossed.....

[kellohitty]

In North America, technical writing is done by Engineers and mainly Engineers. It's assumed that you need a Engineering background in order to write a proper manual. Personally, I think the way an Engineer is trained to think logically and systematically in school, as well as the basic tech knowledge, is essential to writing proper manuals. Of course, that doesn't guarantee that the Engineer will also have the writing skills that are also required.
All in all, it takes a well rounded Engineer.

Here, you won't really find many experienced tech writing Engineers around. So many companies will settle for someone with some experience in tech writing or train someone with an English BA or tech background. Most people with a tech degree or Engineering background will not choose to do tech writing here, there are just too many jobs available for FAE, PM, Rd and etc. Many companies will just scrounge around for what's available as they are also unable to offer a better salary/hours than teaching English.

It also takes a certain type of personality to be a tech writer, mainly, are you willing to sit in a office typing on the computer for 8 hours a day? Do you like playing with tech toys and their components?

[jdsmith]

I suppose these are in office jobs eh??

[rahimiiii]

I have a question, what is technical writing in chinese? I am trying to look for tech writing in 104 but I have no idea what in the world is it in chinese...