Tips for finding a tech writer job

I'm just going to bung down everything I can think of here, so some of it might be somewhat obvious. (And if you're wondering why I think I'm qualified to tell people how to find a job, the answer is that fortunately or unfortunately, I'm an expert!)

Form relationships with agencies
The ideal situation is to have agencies and headhunters contacting you about jobs, rather than you just applying for things. You should apply directly to agencies. For example, look up local sites for Procom, Ian Martin IT, Stratix, Tech Capital Partners, Bagg Technology Resources, Redwood Global, ProVision, Tundra Technical, or Silver Creek Partners. (Those are just some that I've worked with. There are tons of others, and a growing number in India.)

Sometimes a headhunter or agency will ask you in for a general interview. Depending on how you do, that could get you on their list. At the interview, the recruiter can give you all kinds of info about the current job market. They will also often make suggestions about your resume, and I recommend that you take their suggestions very seriously. They know.

To get on the list of headhunters, it helps to apply for lots of things, especially if the application goes to an agency.

If a headhunter or agency contacts you about a job, always respond. If you're not interested in the job, offer to tell your friends about it. If you’re a useful contact they’ll be more likely to keep you in mind.

Even when you're not interested in a job, always ask how much it pays. Finding out the going rates is really useful. Sometimes when asked what price you want, if you're out by more than a certain percentage the employer won’t negotiate.

Once you have a relationship, stay in touch. Send them resume updates. Let them know you're still looking. Connect with them on Linkedin.

Post your CV on job sites
Employers, agencies and headhunters regularly search through job sites such as Monster, Workopolis and Dice. (Here is a Canadian site for Dice: link)

Employers and recruiters search these sites electronically, so make sure you include all the keywords, software and skills that they will use when looking for someone for a job you want. Look at job ads to figure out what those words are. List all the tools you've used, even things you could pick up quickly. For example, if they have a requirement for a writer who knows Word and Excel, they might only pull CVs of writers who have those listed.

Modify your profile regularly. Adding or modifying a profile makes it more visible to employers.

Use Linkedin effectively
Some employers and agencies restrict searches to people who have three recommendations, so make sure you have at least three. And don't forget to add skills and get them endorsed.

Join Linkedin groups: they have interesting discussions, often have job postings, and are great ways to network. There are groups for former employees of many companies and many professional groups. Here are some tech writing groups: CIDM, Content Strategy, Documentation and Tech Writing Management, Information Design, Technical Publications & Documentation Managers Forum, Technical Writer in Action, Technical Writer Forum, Technical Writer of Writers, Technical Writer Worldwide, Technical Writing & Content Management, The Content Wrangler Community, User Experience, Users of Madcap Flare, Writing for Translation.

Google linkedin tips for more information specific to you.

Set up email alerts
Set up email alerts on a few sites so that you're notified of openings. No site has all job openings. Eleuta, Workopolis, Monster and Dice have services to email you with jobs that meet your criteria. I also really like indeed.com, which trolls corporate career pages.

You can set up multiple alerts from the same site; for example, sign up for tech writer jobs, journalism jobs, and information architect jobs.

Corporate Careers pages
Look for every careers page (corporate Careers pages, pages for levels of government, universities, careers lists, etc) that might someday have a job posting you'd be interested in, and favorite it in Internet Explorer. Every few days, run through the list of favorites and check every one.

Create a profile at every Careers page that allows it. It’s a pain and I don’t think I’ve ever been contacted by a company that asks for profiles, but you never know.

Bookmark other sites
Bookmark sites that might have job postings you're interested in, such as Southwestern Ontario STC, www.jobs.ca, Data Shaping, Charity Village, Mobile Dev Jobs, and the US STC job bank.

Check out kijiji and craigslist for your target areas. Check out temp agencies too. Temp agencies don’t tend to have great jobs but they could be a decent stopgap, as well as get your foot in the door of companies.

Contract work
In the last couple of years contract work has overtaken full-time employment, doubtless because of economic uncertainty. If you're married and have benefits through your partner, contract work can be very lucrative. But in any case, consider embracing contracting: educate yourself about how you can maximize your tax deductions, purchase health insurance and any other benefits, and so on. I spent two years living in fascinating places making a lot of money doing contract writing.

Here's a useful link for freelance and contract work: Freelancing: Are you ready>.

Online freelance work
It is possible to make a good living with online freelance work, although most job postings are scams (for example, their sole purpose is to attract traffic for clicks on ads). Online freelance work can include technical writing, proofreading, editing, ghost writing, and journalism (web pages, ezine articles, blog posts, product reviews, etc).

Volunteer
Volunteer to do work you enjoy, based on your career, hobbies, family situation, or whatever. It will give you something to put on your CV and talk about in an interview, as well as meet possibly useful contacts, get your foot in the door places, and keep your mind limber.

Career counselling
Go to the Careers Services department at your alma mater and ask for an appointment to get some advice. The University of Waterloo careers department has a boffo career consulting service. If you are a UW alumna, you get three free sessions; otherwise there's a modest fee. It is well, well worth it. You can sign up on this site, which also has lots of great info: UW career action.

More advice
There are zillions of online sources of advice, but here's a good one: STC job bootcamp.

My main piece of advice is to have a friend revise your resume. The biggest mistake on resumes is that people don't sell themselves sufficiently: an objective person can point out where you need to beef up your sales pitch, and how.

Other ideas? Please leave a comment!

Note: This post is an expanded version of a post I wrote for my other blog, here: Some tips for finding a job.