How does a contractor move from a technical communicator role, doing online help, technical bulletins, and “getting started” guides, to user interface design and information architecture?
This has been my question in the last six months. At times I’ve been very frustrated with the lack of opportunities out there, and other times I’ve been very frustrated with my own lack of opportunism.
I’ve asked around, and what does it come down to? Seek opportunities where you are already working. When working on a project and discovering problems within the product or company, start building relationships with the people who make the decisions. Get to know their problems, think about them, and then come back to offer solutions that—wow—you are capable of implementing!
As an example, say you are working for a company whose product is hard to use, and which gets a lot of support calls and returned products. Their sales people have a hard time finding information, and the marketing people don’t know what’s coming out in the next release. These are problems that every company encounters that you, as a communicator, are poised to solve.
Looking at the opportunities, you might see that the product is too hard to use, indicating that the user interface isn’t well designed. It might also indicate that the information architecture of the product is too hard to follow. Improving usability and information architecture can both decrease support calls and give you valuable experience.
If the support team receives a lot of calls, there’s an opportunity to discover how easy or difficult it is for customers and support staff to find information, and to implement some kind of information management system. Shortening support calls saves the company money while giving you experience in information and content management.
When sales and marketing staff don’t have access to information, they can’t sell the product. Helping them find and access information not only helps the company’s bottom line, but also improves your status and reputation as a technical communicator throughout the company. If sales people can’t live without the information that you provided, you become more important.
Some day, these companies might come back to you to ask you to fix their problems. Your experience is expanded, your résumé looks good, you may have a portfolio piece, and you’ve made good money acting as a consultant to solve a company’s issues. You’ll have a good reference, too.
As a technical writer, I’ve always felt that I communicated well with people, regardless of their worries, needs, or personality types. One barrier I’ve had a hard time conquering is selling to senior management. While I can take baby steps, it is also important to remember that, if I’m such a good communicator, I should be able to communicate with all kinds of people.
Looking back, I have made errors in not building bridges to those who make decisions, and it has cost me dearly. Everyone has problems and everyone needs solutions. I have a problem in that I want to gain experience while making money. Senior managers have problems they need to solve. Get to know the decision makers, politely and cautiously offer solutions (without really rubbing in their problems), and opportunities will start to appear.
So, let me start with those baby steps…
