Education · 1 of 5

The path

There is no licence and no single program. Almost everyone gets in by proving they can explain one hard thing clearly.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 10 to 12

   English, plus computer science, physics or any technical subject. Being good at both halves is the whole point of this job.

2. 2

   Degree or diploma

   2 to 4 years

   English, communications, journalism, computer science or engineering. All of these lead here.

3. 3

   Add the missing half

   6 months to 2 years, usually part time

   Writers learn the technology, engineers learn to write. A technical communication certificate does either.

4. 4

   Build a public portfolio

   A few months

   Write or fix documentation for an open source project. It is public, it is real, and hiring managers can read it.

5. 5

   First role

   1 to 2 years

   Junior technical writer, or a move sideways from customer support, testing or engineering inside a company you already work for.