A Week in the Life
of a Technical Communicator

Shawna is a technical communicator for National Instruments.Hi. My name is Shawna. I'm a Technical Writer for National Instruments located in Austin, Texas. When I was a senior in high school, I knew I was good at writing and organizing information, and I also liked learning about new technologies. I wanted to choose a college major that would incorporate both of my interests and give me an opportunity to make a good living. However, I wasn't sure which major would meet my needs. 

During my sophomore year at Texas Tech University, I heard about the technical writing profession from a friend in the Technical Communication program. After researching the profession, I realized that technical communication was the perfect combination of my writing skills and technical interests. I also discovered that technical communicators get paid quite well! What a relief to discover that I could make a good living as a writer. I graduated with a degree in technical communication two years ago and have been working in the field ever since then.

My Definition of a Technical Communicator

Technical communicators make technical information understandable to a wide range of audiences. We create manuals, online help, and other forms of documentation that help readers solve problems and complete tasks. As technical communicators, we think about how the reader will use what we write. National Instruments main campus in Austin, Texas

Technical communicators work in diverse fields. Pharmaceutical companies, civil engineering firms, environmental organizations, government agencies, high-tech companies, and many other industries depend on technical communicators to translate technical information into a form that readers can understand.

My Goals for the Week

Here were my major goals for last week. As you can see, I had a lot to accomplish.

bulletFinish an installation guide for our new hardware and software
The installation guide describes how users can attach a camera to the hardware in their computers and acquire digital images. Customers can analyze and process their acquired images with our software. I need to get information about new features from an engineer and add the information to the installation guide. I also should ask another technical communicator to review the document. I plan to complete the project by Friday afternoon.
bulletTest the accuracy of my documentation
 To verify that the installation guide is correct, I'm going to follow my document's instructions while installing the new hardware and software on my computer.
bulletMentor a new technical communicator in my group
A new hire, Elena, is working on her first project. She has some questions about using our software to process images. I need to set aside time to teach her about the software.
bulletParticipate in a recruiting event
I'm scheduled to work at my company's booth during a local career fair. I will talk to students about my job and answer questions about technical communication and my company.

I put together this site for students who want to know what technical communicators actually do. The planner page on the left shows my schedule for the week. Click on the Activities tab to see how my scheduled events relate to my job.