Career Transitioning from Journalism: Getting the Interview
November 2015
As a regular recruiter of technical writers, Emma Harding (Writing Team Manager at Streamliners) shares her perspective on journalists switching careers to technical writing .
If you enter the search words “transition technical writing from journalism” into Google, you find some interesting conversations. For example, a recent US-based journalism graduate with 5 years' experience as a journalist and writer said that in spite of a good resumé, she'd applied for more than 20 technical writing jobs without being offered a single interview (see the thread on Reddit).
Several respondents advised her to take the emphasis off her journalism degree, because it would be off-putting to recruiters. One particularly insightful commenter suggested she convey her interest in learning a new way of writing, instead of emphasizing what a good journalist she has been.
My sense is that these commenters are right. As a regular recruiter of technical writers, I read a lot of resumés, including many from journalists. All too often, applicants with a journalism background leave me with a strong impression that they feel qualified to walk straight into a job in tech communication. This is a false step, in my view. When you’ve worked hard to become expert in a profession, you want to see that others respect your expertise. I believe journalists have a lot to offer, but the ones I want to talk to make it clear that they:
- recognize that technical communication is significantly different from journalism – with different challenges, different ways of doing things, and different pressures
- accept that they will need to go “back to school” – either by taking a qualification or being prepared to learn on the job
- accept that this might mean a drop in pay while they hone their new skills
In return, they can enjoy a rewarding and meaningful career, which plays to their existing strengths. In a 2011 blog post on Technical Writing World, Veronica Starovoit lists the similarities between the two professions, and explains why money, job satisfaction, benefits, and technology led her to choose technical writing over journalism.
And it's potentially a win-win - in this time of cross-training writers who move from social media to manual to user forum, it's powerful and rewarding to work and learn from writers with diverse approaches to communication.
Want more? See Career Transitioning: For ex-Journalists, Flexibility is Key