7 Key Attributes Technical Writers Need To Succeed In Their Career

by Sophia Miller

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Computing 2014

Technical writers write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions. They may also assist in layout work. In order to successfully forge ahead with their careers, analysts in a survey carried out by U.S. Department of Labor (via O*NET) have marked out the following as important attributes that technical writers would need. These attributes have been selected from characteristics and requirements strongly associated with the occupation. They are

Abilities: Enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance
Interests: Preferences for work environments. Occupational Interest Profiles (OIPs) are compatible with Holland's (1985, 1997) model of personality types and work environments. Six interest categories are used to describe the work environment of occupations: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. An OIP consists of six numerical scores indicating how descriptive and characteristic each work environment (or interest area) is for an occupation
Knowledge: Organized sets of principles and facts applying in general domains
Skills: These include basic skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge. Plus cross-functional skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate performance of activities that occur across jobs
Style: Personal characteristics that can affect how well someone performs a job

We have listed out attributes which were scored 80% or more in terms of importance by the analysts.

Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 97.6%

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 94%

Having a strong preference for artistic work environments. Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
Attribute Type: Interests Score: 90.43%

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 87.6%

The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 87.6%

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 82.4%

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 82.2%