Re: Other questions
I have another question: Is anyone of you familiar with the medical
equipment sector or the energy sector? Would you see these sectors as future
opportunities and directions of the technical writing business?
I have written technical and end-user documentation for medical equipment such as diagnostic CAT machines and X-ray scanners. I consider it my best bet on staying in the tech writing business. The demand for ever more sophisticated equipment shows no sign of abating, and the audience for this equipment demands good writing skills. You usually have three audiences to write for: the physicians who use the output of the equipmen, the technicians who set it up and use it, and field repair personnel.
Do you create technical content also in other languages than English? For
which customer segments?
I have overseen the localization of medical equipment English language materials into French, Spanish and Italian. In one position, I created "customer facing documents" (documents that customers would see, such as invoices and bills of lading) in 16 languages, but I did not do the translation work. I was doing the layout, using materials previously translated by professionals.
Translation work is another field I think has a good future. Even if you're not a translator, someone needs to oversee the project, make sure that all the glossaries are completed and the production schedule is met, and make sure that the translated materials are quality checked before release. If a company is planning to do considerable work in the EU, it will be required to produce some materials in European languages. This is particularly true of the medical equipment field, where unclear directions can threaten someone's life. The Europeans are very picky in this regard. :)
!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!- !-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!
"Be a scribe! Your body will be sleek, your hand will be soft. You are one who sits grandly in your house; your servants answer speedily; beer is poured copiously; all who see you rejoice in good cheer. Happy is the heart of him who writes; he is young each day."--Ptahhotep, 4500 BCE
Sarah Stegall munchkyn at munchkyn dot com
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