Technical Communication in India – Past, Present, and Future

I never imagined myself as a technical writer if you'd have asked me. I did not study to become one, and certainly did not inherit it from my family lineage. Of course, I had little knowledge about the technical communication profession a few years ago. About the time I graduated from college in 2001, the technical communication field began gaining credibility in India, thanks to some laudable efforts from professional bodies such as the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and INTECOM. Opportunities for aspiring technical writers at that time were not abundant. If you ask me now, the problem was getting started since the information technology (IT) industry was experiencing its own economic downturn.

The Road Less Traveled

I clearly remember - my first call for an interview came after two months of meeting with consultants, placing resumes on various job boards, and calling the human resources departments of various multinational companies. The adverse circumstances did not leave me with many choices. My entry into becoming a technical communication professional happened by chance. Who exactly was to be blamed for the unfavorable conditions? It could have been the outsourcing bust that caught us unaware or the lack of education, who knows. For most people, it was definitely a road less traveled.

Five years later, things are looking much brighter and more promising. Technical writers in India have benefited from the sudden outsourcing surge. Many companies (especially those with products and services) are on a hiring spree, which is improving the outlook of the profession. India is now home to many technical writing activities, such as learning sessions and informal meetings in almost every major city; mailing lists and special interest groups; ezines and newsletters that showcase written talent; and annual conferences. This trend is here to last provided products continue to be developed or maintained in India, and we continue to learn, improve, and demonstrate our skills.

What Do We Need To Do Differently?

A technical communication job today is much more than just writing. Of course, writing is only one of the common denominators. Many employers take it for granted that a person can write. They are often more interested in your technical skills, which will definitely help you secure the job, yet it is writing that will help you excel at it.

We must constantly remind ourselves that technical writing jobs were not created in India. To sustain these good times, we must try to predict the future and the trends that shape it. It is a time for transformation!

Transformation of Writing as a Core Business Function

In many organizations where technical writers are employed today, writing is seen as a strategic business function. Making our presence felt requires that we must work harder towards transforming the profession itself into a core business function. It is our responsibility to educate product stakeholders about the importance of hiring technical communicators. However, we are not at that point yet where we can sit down with them and squeeze documentation into their final project plans.

Call for Leadership

In the context of reduced IT savings, organizations everywhere are constantly looking at budgets, which are tightly coupled with resources. The newfound mantra is to increase the profits with lesser manpower. This has a direct implication to our profession as well. We must continually remind management about the value that we provide the company. How can we possibly achieve this? For one, we need people with leadership abilities – managers who don’t have to wink at the very mention of costs, who can create an effective business case and opportunities for technical communicators (I am not talking here of return on investments alone, but a person, similar to a user advocate who can demonstrate value.)

Does that mean writing is going to align itself with management in the business? Well, I am convinced it will. You have already witnessed this trend in the US, where most manufacturing and service-related jobs migrated to cheaper locations with the entire documentation departments being offshored, thus causing layoffs on the pretext of costs. US writers are confident that technical communication jobs will return. Many of them are taking on other professional roles as project managers, editors, and so on during this time.

Indulge in Technology, Innovation, and Business

The next best is to understand where are we going as a profession. For this, indulge in Technology, Innovation, and Business. The first step is in being recognized as a part of the development team. This requires you to be adept at technology. The second is to make your presence felt on an organizational level, which requires innovation. You have to make a parallel between a firm’s revenue and your contribution to it, which requires business skills. Try attending meetings with development teams and help influence their decisions. You have to step out of your cubicles and understand how the business works. Also, we waste much of our time on perishable skills, such as understanding the tools. Our focus should remain on intellectual skills and how we can capitalize on that.

Time for a Change

For those entering this profession, the groundwork is started for you. I am wary of those who don’t belong to the technical communication profession; people who can be at a large disadvantage in the long run. We need to carefully watch where we go from here. Complacency can reverse the trends at any moment.

Technical writing is not just about learning and writing about new technologies, domains, product suites and processes. It’s how you can set business direction, align and motivate others and deliver results.

Suggested Reading

Giammona, Barbara. The Future of Technical Communication. Technical Communication, Volume 51, Number 3, August 2004.

Comments

  1. Great post, Rahul. I learnt a lot from it. Thanks for sharing your insight!

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  2. Awesome Rahul, very informative. I like the way you put forth your perceptions.

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  3. Hi Rahul,

    This is indeed a very valuable information for those who have aspirations to become Tech Writers. I feel, this king of articles help them a lot. Still, need more information for those who want to switch their careers from a different profession to this. It will be better if we can start a thread in the forum for those people.

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  4. Great article, Rahul. I'm particularly impressed with the last line, which sums the areas a technical writer should ideally focus on. I hope we get to learn more from you......

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  5. Good article. And very well written taking into consideration the current day's technical writing scenario in India.

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  6. Great post, keep it up the same, It inspire us to learn depth in tech writing...

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  7. Good Thought!
    The past is not the real past you have seen it:(
    The Verifone/Infosys/Wipro/TCS/Sun Technical Communicators and individuals like Gurudutt Kamath created the environment that you currently livein.
    (This is missing from your post.)
    Some of us has helped/seen the community to grow from a 100+ to 2000+ community as of now.

    Great job!

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  8. Hi Rahul,

    Great Article and quite informative for the newbies..

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  9. Hi Rahul,
    Well said ,it is very informative.
    Keep it up!

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  10. Dear Rahul,

    As usual, even this article was very informative.
    I would appreciate if you could share something of this kind with us regarding the "Initiatives to be taken as a technical writer in an Organization" or "How can one bring awareness to the existing socitey about the importance of a technical writer".

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  11. Hi Rahul,
    Good Article......very informative!!

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  12. Rahul:

    I enjoy reading your blog and I have linked to yours from mine. I'd love for you to write something for TheConentWrangler.com. Perhaps when I return from The Gilbane Conference on Content Management we can chat about the possibilities.

    Keep up the good work.

    Cheers,

    Scott Abel
    Content Management Strategist
    TheContentWrangler.com

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  13. Hi Rahul,

    I started with technical writing a year and a half past, before straddling with my decision on what I want to do. Technical Writing happened by chance with me and today I'm more than content to be in a track that's less traveled. And, to know and come across that such great twinners, and wise thinkers like you are in company is a real boost!!! The artcile is very insiring, encouraging, and informative...Keep them coming in!

    Regards,
    Swetha

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  14. Hi Rahul,

    I started with technical writing a year and a half past, before straddling with my decision on what I want to do. Technical Writing happened by chance with me and today I'm more than content to be in a track that's less traveled. And, to know and come across that such great twinners, and wise thinkers like you are in company is a real boost!!! The artcile is very insiring, encouraging, and informative...Keep them coming in!

    Regards,
    Swetha

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  15. I haven't tried technical writing. And I don't think that my style and interest is towards that. Technical writing is much more than talking about products, technologies. With everything getting technology driven, it is going to flourish for sure but it will also demand a lot of research on the writer's part.

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  16. Yes I agree with you completely. in fact, I had observed this fact recently too. nowadays, technical writing is so demanding and you can get a lucrative job, if you are good in technical writing. with this skill, you become an important part of growing business and take your company at another level.

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  17. There has indeed been a paradigm shift in the way writing and particularly technical writing is being seen, in the last few years. This bodes well for the field of technical writinng.

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  18. True!! I agree with you. As written communication grows in popularity, there will always be a need for technical writers in any industry.
    -Anjali

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  19. Technical writing is no doubt not an easy job. One needs to have a good command over technical words n jargons. iT s a good article on the technical communication scene in India.

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  20. I have seen this industry growing with ITES and other domain services. Glad you have shared the knowledge here, so that those aspiring can get benefitted and learn something worth investing their time and energy.

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  21. As always an interesting article from you Rahul. As Blogs and written communication grows, there is a need for technical writers with good command over the language and jargons.

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