Technical Writers
What Technical Writers Do
Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions. May assist in layout work.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- Not available
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- English Languageimportance 4.8/5
- Computers and Electronicsimportance 4.3/5
- Administrativeimportance 3.8/5
- Communications and Mediaimportance 3.3/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.2/5
- Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.2/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 3.2/5
- Production and Processingimportance 3.1/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- E-Mail4.7/5
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.6/5
- Spend Time Sitting4.5/5
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.5/5
- Importance of Repeating Same Tasks4.5/5
- Freedom to Make Decisions4.4/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Family Medicine Physicians95% skill match
- Historians95% skill match
- Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary95% skill match
- Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers94% skill match
- Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary94% skill match
- Neurologists94% skill match
- General Internal Medicine Physicians93% skill match
- Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education93% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.1/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.1/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.0/5
- Persuasionimportance 2.9/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.8/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 2.8/5
- Negotiationimportance 2.6/5
- Instructingimportance 2.5/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Achievement Orientation
- Cautiousness
- Cooperation
- Perseverance
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- ConventionalHigh
- ArtisticMedium
- InvestigativeMedium
- RealisticLow
- SocialLow
- EnterprisingLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where technical writers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Huntsville, AL4.41× national avg
- 2Dubuque, IA4.11× national avg
- 3Durham-Chapel Hill, NC3.90× national avg
- 4Lexington Park, MD3.79× national avg
- 5Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT3.64× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- EditorsLateral Move
- Nurse PractitionersCareer Change
- Financial ExaminersCareer Change
- Physician AssistantsCareer Change
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Public Relations/Image Management
- Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, NH)grads earn ~$59,801
- The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)grads earn ~$80,221
- Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)grads earn ~$69,300
- University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)grads earn ~$73,410
- University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, CO)grads earn ~$74,779