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Alternate Career Path for Technical Writers You will agree that there is no doubt that technical writing is a lucrative career with handsome payouts but there comes the point of saturation, from where you need to grow and extend your area of expertise. Reality is this is not the case of only technical writers, in fact, this is the scenario in almost all the profession excluding movie and politics. In the professional journey, you have acquired a lot of new skills like people management, facilitation of meeting, project management, listening, usability, content marketing which can help you to bag a new career which you dream to do. Let us face it: Generally, after around ten years of experience as a technical writer professionals start looking out for more options where they can excel in their career path. Working as a technical writer makes them efficient enough to understand technologies as well as working in a team and managing it. Learning never ends, and knowledge never goes in vain. Here is something for you. In this blog post, five best career transition position from the technical writer is discussed. How we prepared the list and why we are saying them best? Here is the fact: Interviewed the technical communicators who switched career. Salary was also one of the parameters. We make sure average salary should be equal to or more than tech writers of similar experience group. In the first Information Developers Conclave, our theme was Transformation many ideas came from that conclave. Before finalizing the list, we have considered the skills generally intermediate technical writers (4-18 years of experience) acquired during the job. Listed those core competency and mapped with other career options. Secondary skills which tech writers acquire on the jobs: Interviewing skill Information gathering skill Co-ordinating skill Meeting facilitation skill People management Domain knowledge Testing/QA Product knowledge Planning and management skill Communication skill   Have a sneak peek and decide yourself what suits you.   1) Program Manager Stop! If you are confusing a program manager with a project manager. A program manager manages a program that may include more than one project. A program manager’s job is to plan and govern a program. He is also responsible for the successful completion of the product /outcome of the program. The nature of his job is mostly operational so he must possess both knowledge and managerial skills. Practical experiences help him manage and understand the program.   Job Responsibility of a Program Manager:   Let’s be specific about the roles played by a program manager. He is responsible for doing daily program management from the launch to completion of any program.   He is responsible for defining the rules and regulations to the span of control.   He plans and keeps a check on the execution of it in a program.   To manage the program budget also comes under the eye of a program manager.   He also does the risk management and finds alternative solutions to it.   In a program the number of the project involved are interdependent, a program manager is responsible for the coordination.   A program manager also manages the resources across all the projects in a program.   Initial program documentation is also managed by him.   Being the program manager, he is responsible for the communication with stakeholders.   Must have skills for a program manager: A program manager is a responsible position in an organization, so it becomes mandatory to have some necessary skills crucial for this job. He should have excellent leadership and managerial skill. As he manages resources, he should have a good knowledge of the resource allocation process. To cope up with risk management, he should have an innovative mind to find multidirectional solutions. To make a program cost-effective, he should know about budgeting. The objective of the program should be well understood by a program manager. He must have a positive approach towards the resources in a program for creating a better working environment. He also needs to be aware of the tricks and techniques of program and project management.   Salary of a Program Manager: Seeing the responsibilities and skills required for a program manager, if you are wondering what to do, it’s time to rejoice. The salary they draw is enough to cover up the investment they do in their profession. Take a look at the survey-   An average salary of more than 21 lakh/annum is what they draw in India. It also varies according to the country you are working in. In the U.S the average salary of a program manager is 1, 27,445 USD. Start working on the skills required now, if you think you can move in the direction of a technical writer to a program manager. You can contact Alok Sharma and Madhumita Sharma for the transition to the program manager.   2) Business Analyst Next most sought career opportunity for the technical writer is – Business Analyst. As per the name suggest they are the one who analyses a business and recommends necessary changes to make the business cost effective. They work as a bridge between the organization and its IT needs. Not only this, but they are also involved in the documentation of processes in a business and the business model. Analyzing a business also includes the analysis of risk and after effects of it.  This makes the job of a business analyst of great responsibility. They determine the requirements of a project to optimize the budget and make it cost effective. They also need to communicate the requirements, and the necessary changes recommended to the partner, stakeholder facilitator, etc.   Job Description of a Business Analyst: They are involved in the planning and monitoring of business to analyze it better. They find out the requirements and communicate it in a simplified and translated way for a better understanding. They analyze the risk involved and the possible solutions. They minimize the budget to increase profit.   Skills

Everything you need to know to become a technical writer- A step by Step Guide Are you new to technical writing or thinking how to become a technical writer or learn technical writing? You must be wondering where to begin. This post is mainly to answer the most frequently asked question when I get a call from aspiring technical writers or content writers. How to become a technical writer? How to get into the Technical Writing Industry? How do you get into Technical Writing? Trying to transition to Technical Writing, what do recruiters look for? Technical Writing Tips What is Technical Writing? How to switch from content writing to technical writing? If you are a writer and dream to become a technical writer and work with the world's most important technology companies like Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Amazon, Thales, then this blog post is for you. If you are a writing nerd like me, you must have heard about this profession. But, if you’re part of the other 99.9% of the world who isn’t super excited about this profession,” you’ve probably missed this news. Technical writers are the second most paid writing professionals first is, of course, ransom writers. Growth projection is 20% in India and 11% in U.S.A (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics). The prominence of technical writing in the IT sector can be known through this article too. Read it here Technical writing in NEWS   As a single writer, you can build a career as a full-time technical writer from the comfort of your home after work, during your afternoons, and on your weekends. I don’t think that I'm overly dramatic when I say that technical writing is your shot at the life of your dreams. “Writing is the painting of voice.”- Voltaire Trust me — I would know. Till now I have shaped up the careers of many writers through our course and many other initiatives. I want you to have as much fun at work as these guys, and I do. So, today I’ll introduce you to this world with my technical writing guide. Note: Even if you’re already knee-deep, you can still learn a ton of new things. If you’re interested in a particular topic, feel free to jump ahead: Overview Definition What do technical writers do? Who can become a technical writer? Where can technical communicators be placed? What are the important skills to be a successful technical writer? Resume of Technical writers What would be the average salary of technical writers? What is the career path of technical writers? How to start as a technical writer? Overview A perfect blend of language and technology is technical writing, wherein technology is made easy for people to understand through creating user manuals, online help, and documentation for future reference and proper functioning of the software. In short, it is the information development process. Image source Definition of Technical writer If you’ve read my blog posts on technical writing, you already know that it’s different from other writing. Not every technology writing is automatically technical writing. Few definitions of technical writing are: Before taking up a career in technical writing we should know the whole scenario of technical writing as a career, and this blog post will help you in it by discussing all the major questions that whirl the mind before focusing on the definite track. According to Wikipedia “Technical writing is any written form of writing or drafting technical communication used in a variety of technical and occupational fields, such as computer hardware and software, engineering, chemistry, aeronautics, robotics, finance, medical, consumer electronics, and biotechnology. It encompasses the largest sub-field within technical communication”. According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics “Putting technical information into easily understandable language is technical writing” Want the drop-dead simple version of it? Technical writing is an effort/process of simplifying the use of the product to help users to use it effecientely and effectively. Technical writers can take help of words, images, infographics, GIFs, videos to do so and chose different media to publish and deliver which is easily accessible and searchable. It’s anything that you do to delight and help your customer to use a product. The customer can be internal or external. This is a classical definition of technical writing now technical writers are more into the Information development process and wear different hats according to need.   History of Technical Writing To become a technical writer it is good to know the history of the profession. In U.S.A more than 46,000 technical writers are employed and the first Association of technical writers (STC) was founded in 1953. In 2009, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics recognized Technical Writer as a profession. The rich history of technical communication goes back to the period of Aristotle around 322 BC. His works were considered as the juvenile form of technical writing, however, the first published English technical writing document was of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, a period from 1760 to 1840 the need for technical writing increased. This need was a result of requirements generated for skilled resources that could handle the machinery.  It became necessary to illustrate to the workers how to use the machine in a simple language that can be understood by non-technical resources too. Documentation became mandatory because it was becoming a Napoleon task to teach each worker verbally about the functioning of heavy machines. The need for technical writers volcanized even more during the First World War and Second World War. The heavy weapons were to be used by soldiers not the technicians, so it became important to provide them the manuals to use it in the war field. Most crucial fields like medicine, aerospace technology, military, computer technology saw advancement in that period and it accelerated the need for technical writers to explain and document the processes. This led to gain technical writer's professional acclaim, and it emerged as an official job title-TECHNICAL WRITER. The postwar period was also not less rewarding. Writers were needed across different fields to register the processes

Technical writer salary Salary Survey 2017 Interested to know in which direction the salary of technical writers is going. Here is a good news at the starting of the year 2017. Technical writing in the highest paying jobs in India claims Economics Times. Excerpt from the Newspaper Technical writer 2 January 2017 Technical writer While writers and content writers are one thing, technical writers are completely different. They also write but their focus is mostly on technicalities related to an IT firm or programming company. For companies specializing in technology like Adobe, Oracle, and similar brands, a technical writer is a must. Minimum Qualification: Graduate Salary range: Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.7 lakh a month To read more click here. You can read the detail salary survey of the year 2017 on the STC-India website. Salary Survey 2014 STC India chapter recently released their salary survey results for 2014 in 16th STC annual conference at Bangalore which provides an insight about the technical writer’s salaries in India and also about the technical writing industry growth in India. This valuable and benchmark is the result of  Paresh Naik. Kudos to Paresh’s indeed a great job in publishing this salary survey! So what do you think about your salary!!! Have a look before you change in 2015 so that you can make maximum from the new market recovered from the recession. For me, the good news is my area (NCR) is the highest paying area in India followed by Pune for the same experience level. On the other hand, this year salary decrease by 11.9% compared to the same in 2013. Really sad. For international friend  1USD = 67 INR Some Interesting Findings from the data Measures used in this report Survey according to experience Click to Zoom         Base:   The total responses in a given category. Mean: The value computed by averaging the tabulated responses. 10%: Ten percent of the responses were below this value; ninety percent were above this value. 25%: Twenty-five percent of the responses were below this value; seventy-five percent were above this value. 50%: Fifty percent of the responses were below this value; fifty percent were above this value. This is also called the median. 75%: Seventy-five percent of the responses were below this value; twenty-five percent were above this value. 90%: Ninety percent of the responses were below this value; ten percent were above this value. TrimMean: This value is the mean taken by excluding 10% of data points from the top and bottom tails of a data set. In other words, this is an average of values excluding the extreme cases. Salary/year of experience: Most of the tables also indicate the measures for salary/year of experience. This parameter is included to compare the influence of various factors on the salary on level grounds, i.e. to exclude the effect of experience. If all or most of the survey participants from a specific category have a higher number of years of experience, the average salary in that particular category may be reflected as very high. In such cases, the salary/year of experience parameter will give a more realistic comparison of salaries in related categories. All the salary figures mentioned in this report are in Indian Rupees unless specifically mentioned otherwise

Technical Writing Course/Training Delhi (NCR), Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad Welcome, Information Developers Foundation is a premier Technical writing training institute not only in Bangalore but our students are from Delhi NCR, Pune, Hyderabad, and other parts of the globe. Technical writing is a fast growing sector in India and abroad. It creates the need for professionals delivering quality information.  If you have the desire to make big in industries like IT, Pharmaceutical, Telecom, Aerospace etc. this course is designed for you.  If you want to know about the technical writing we highly recommend you to read our “How to become a technical writer- Step-by-Step Guide“. In this guide, we have discussed almost all the questions spilling from the mind of someone who wants to know about technical writing? It is a comprehensive step by step guide. We have written the similar Definitive guide for the content writers and Business Communication. Career growth, the job opening is similar to software developers and engineers. For salary survey of technical writer 2012 click here  The salary survey of Technical writers 2017. Information Developers Foundation is a premier institute of online technical writing in Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad offering Diploma in Technical Communication and along with many other customized courses like Content writing and Blogging.    Information Developers Foundation (IDF) is pleased to announce its  Highly paid accelerated Technical writing program commencing every first Sunday of the month. Visit our Technical writing Training page for more details.  Who Can Apply: ·         Graduates/BE/MBA/Diploma ·         Professional with good English and computer knowledge. Our success rate is approx 100% just because our training method is inspired by corporate and by training industries. Our technical writing syllabus is the most advanced in the industry and the whole course is imparted by corporate mentor Rahul Karn. Apart from the course we also help our students to shine resume, prepare for the interview, and provide complete tips and tricks to outperform in the job interviews. Do you want to know what you should do before a foray into technical writing? To know more about course content, admission procedure contact us at- 07840841999 or log on to http://informationdevelopers.in/  

10 Interview tips for Technical writers and Content writers This is post is about dos and don’ts for the technical writers and content writer during the interview. Some talented individuals lose great opportunities just because of minor behavioral issues. May these 10 tips may help you to nail your next interview. I hate to take interviews but due to call of duty occasionally I have to do it. Why I hate traditional interview- I firmly believe our current interview process is not suitable to screen candidate and need complete 360-degree change. Interviewees can give rehearsed answers and interviewers are unconsciously biased to pick candidates whom they like rather than those with the most potential. Referer program is adding more complexity to the process. So far I have interviewed technical writing and agile coaches from different cities of India like Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, and Delhi, from different colleges, companies and experience level, sometimes even more experienced than me. In fact most of them were better than me it was only matter of time, luck or chance, but on the other hand, I also bumped with very weird or odd kind of candidates who was excellent as a resource but complete bizarre in their behavior.   Disclaimer: My only intention to write this blog is please avoid this kind of behavior to grab your dream job if you agreed with my opinion.   “YOU KNOW” Syndrome: One of the candidates scored very high in a writing test, but when I get a chance to meet, you know he expected me to know his father name to a permanent address. His every sentence was starting with YOU KNOW. Finally, I have to say I don’t know. Rotating chair: It was her final round, in the interviewing panel my HR Manager and Director of R&D was with me. An interview was going well, but her chair was rotating at 180 degrees. Believe me, it irritated all of us. Negative attitude toward the previous employer: Yes, we all look for good opportunity and we have our share of problems in the organization that sometimes force us to quit. But the attitude and the word chosen for the previous employer made us negative on her. Diplomacy is key. It’s OK to say that you’ve had disagreements with your boss and/or coworkers. Look cool attitude is not always cool: It’s good to be original, and truthful, but sometimes silence is wisdom. One guy arrived without a resume, reason? He does not have a printer, Cyber cafes were not open so early, Friday he returned late from office, Saturday went to resort with a girlfriend he was tired so he slept whole day and night on Sunday. So he was not able to take a print of his resume. I denied interviewing him, not because doesn’t have a resume, because…hope you can find an answer. I was looking for the serious candidates who are really in need of a job, not someone for whom this is just one more interview. I mean to say be serious with your approach. I’m not a fish trader: One gentleman was already working in one of the reputed organization and had two other good offers with decent increment want to check if I can pay more. Sorry, I do not promote this attitude. In the final round, he opens this truth that he got an offer letter from XYZ company can I prove to him that we are better paymaster. I send him to HR. Salary negotiation is not my job. Yo-Yo Honey Singh: The T-shirt you are wearing might be the best in your wardrobe, but I expect not to see you out-of-bed look or Yo-Yo look during the interview. No need to wear costly stuff be simple, clean, comfortable, and organized. Avoid fancy or party wear. Semi-casual is also fine. Fancy caller tune: Kindly take out your precious half hour out for me during the interview. Your fancy caller and going out to answer the call even to tell your friend that you are busy disturbs me. Mute options are available in cell phones. It is advisable to switch off or mute your phone. You and your resume are different: I really find very disturbing when people do not remember what they have written on a resume. Hard to believe when you are saying your experience is more than five years and your resume is screaming something different. Either you faked in Resume or your updated resume is not updated in both the cases I’m sorry dear. Learn to write a great resume. Be comfortable: I want you to be comfortable in the boardroom, but I also want to be comfortable. I really become uncomfortable when you start calling me Rah, Rak or something that you like rather than my original name “Rahul”. I too use slang’s with my friends in cricket ground but not in a boardroom. I do not like somebody invading my personal space. Be polite, soft, humble and formal with your language. Gum-Gum One candidate told me he has a habit of chewing gum during exam or interview, do I mind if he continues chewing it? He was honest, but what you would have done, mind it or ignore it? Avoid chewing gum, tobacco or anything during the interview. It is ok to take a cup of chai or coffee.  A Lesson to me: I was interviewing a beautiful lady with good skills and experience before wrapping up the interview I asked her when you are planning to marry? Will you change the city after marriage? She paused and replied Sir; do you ask this question to male candidate also? I told her this may be an unparliamentary question but….I explained why I asked this to her? It was a good take home for me. One more tip is to go through the website of the employer and try to learn there domain, expertise, and achievements. Read how to write a great resume. Need your view. Feel free to post your comment

Ruchira is a B.E (Civil Engineer)  and working as a content writer before joining Information Developers Foundation. With her passion for writing and growth in her writing career, she joins the IDF Technical writing course and under the able guidance of Rahul Karn, she manages to get a job as a technical writer with a 3X jump in salary. “Rahul Sir is a great mentor who realizes your potential and leads you to your journey. He has a unique quality of understanding people’s need. I was a new bee in town and joined his technical writing class from Pune and his guidance helped me in landing my desired job role. Keep your support like this in future as well.Thanks”.      

Career Opportunities for English Graduates in 2023 Your English communication skill can earn you millions, do you want to know how keep reading? As an English Graduate, I always wondered what next? Should I go for the competitive exams where English is not the only paper that can reserve a seat for me, amid the reservations and the tough competition, for which lakhs of aspirants from the different stream are longing about? The zeal while choosing English as my specialization vanished when it came to choosing a profession. I couldn’t figure out what made me different, any graduate with any stream can appear for competitive exams. Now the scenario is different. An English graduate can have a profession according to their taste. Lots of career opportunities are there to satiate the English lovers, where they can earn, through a profession that they would love to do.   Let’s discuss these opportunities and how can we enter into these professions.   Content Writer   Content writing is the most common profession an English graduate can opt for.   According to surveys an entry-level content writer average salary is around INR 2, 38,392. Content writers can write web contents, article, reviews, academic content, etc.   They can take this profession as a full-time Job or freelancing also. An English graduate can enroll in a content writing course to know how to channelize their skill and the basics of writing good content. To enroll in the course provided by IDF click here.   Blogger Blogging is emerging as a good career option for a skilled writer with a heavy payback depending on how proficient they are. A blog with quality content and having the capacity to engage the audience can be the best choice for those who want to sit at home and earn. A blogger can earn in lakhs per month if he is really devoted towards blogging and placing it at the right place. The highest earner blogger in India earns approximately INR 30, 00,000 per month. IDF provides blogging course as well where emerging bloggers are mentored to make money through blogging.   Social Media Influencer   According to recent surveys done by India Influencer report 2018, social media Influencer will surpass the celebrities as a choice for promotions of the product and services of organizations. More than 90% companies would prefer SMIs for their brand building.   Social media influencer is the one who has a large following and they get paid for featuring a brand in their posts. They can earn up to INR 40,000 to INR 60,000 for a single post. Read the blog for detailed insight.   They influence people by their posts with quality content and relevant information on social media websites such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. They help a company in their brand promotion and their income also depends upon the followings they have on social media.   Know more how to make money as a Social media Influencer. Technical writer A perfect blend of technology and language – Technical writer. With the advent of the software-industry and their knack of using the writing skills of a commoner for documentation, a new door was opened for those who were seeking a job in the industry without a B.tech degree. In the current trends, technical writers draw a handsome package because they are the one who is responsible for the documentation or the groundwork to convey the right information in the correct and non-ambiguous form to the development team. According to surveys technical writing is emerging as one of the highest paying jobs. For data read our blog Salary of technical writers.

Animated GiFs- Latest trend in visual communication Animated GIFs is latest trends among next-gen professionals for visual communication. LinkedIn partner with Tenor to add GIFs to messaging. Use of GIFs on your blog more shareable on the other hand it can be used in the technical document to make complex idea simpler. It can also use for internal communication like (sharing a process to reproduce bug/issue by a tester to a developer) You must use in the right place in the right place overuse of it can dilute the purpose of your technical documentation. Information Developers Foundation is committed to keeping you updated on the latest and in-demand skill. This Webinar is just a step toward it. You can subscribe to our website if you do not want to miss any of our action. How and Why to create Animated GIFs? This post is a recording of the TC Charcha (webinar) hosted by Information Developers Foundation on 24th March 2018. Our esteemed guest of the night Sangeeta Raghu presented a very informative and engaging webinar on the Animated GIFs with a demo. Highlights: What Are Animated GIFs? Why use it? Advantages GIFs Where to Use it What Tools to Use? Best Practices Where To Start? Examples   You can watch the video but you will miss the enjoyment of live interaction what we experienced. Hope to see you in our next Content Charcha on API Masterclass by Pema Sherpa on 28th April 2018. Register Now. You can also see our recorded webinars.

Information Developers Foundation success story of 2015 With 2015 drawing to a close and a fresh new year waiting on the horizon, I wanted to thank you ALL my students for making 2015 a super successful year by every measure. We grew our footprint, we grew our capabilities, we grew in terms of our value prop and most importantly, we grew as a team! Every end marks a fresh, new beginning. Let’s continue to keep our spirits and determination high, and we’ll continue to blaze our trail of success in the new year as well. Feeling great to share 2015 was again a very successful year for Information Developers Foundation. We do not focus on enrolling maximum students, but we focus to serve who really wants to be in the technical writing and our exponential growth and placement success is the testimony of this vision. Result– Our all the students of  2015 are successfully placed with the great salary and satisfaction. Information Developers Foundation organizes and sponsors two successful  STC conference in the month of January and August. We also initiated Expert talk and Anu Singh from Fiserv was our chief guest. She talks about how to become a technical writer. Our LinkedIn group, page, and Facebook page keep on doing well. This year we also got international training opportunity. Looking forward, we want to serve the cause also by supporting differently abled and economically poor but talented students by providing this training FREE of cost. Wall Of Fame List of Information Developers Foundation successful students-2015: Abhishek Mitra Newgen Anuradha Malhotra SaaSfocus Deepak Shrawat FosterIDEAZ Technologies Sonam Prakash Fiserv Debjani Gorai Algoworks Nitika Panday EBEE Preeti Kumari Delhivery Anukriti Sriv Z associates Rinni Mahajan Interra system Navtej Techpro Soumya Ericsson Shipra Jain Stero d Dipti Sharma P soft Chandan Singh IDS Infotech Limited Abhilasha Bhardwaj Wipro Neha Hotellogic

Turn Your Knowledge Into A High Paying IT Career that Gives you Financial Freedom, Growth, and Stable Career at Top IT MNCs Even You Are From Non IT Background. Start or Grow Your Career as a High-Paying Software Technical Writer Hi, I’m Rahul Karn, founder of Information Developers, the home of technical writers, and an IT professional with over 15 years of experience. I have helped more than 500 non-IT professionals become high-paying Software Technical Writers with top companies like Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, ServiceNow, HCL, and Fiserv. In 2012, I established the Information Developers Foundation with a mission to transform 10000 India’s aspiring technical writers to get a dream job in the Software industry. My unique, proven framework, the High Paying Accelerator Software Technical Writing blueprint, empowers individuals to reach their full potential and secure lucrative careers in the tech industry. Why Choose My Technical Writing Masterclass? Proven Success: Over 500 professionals transformed into high-paying technical writers. Top Company Placements: Alumni working at Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, and more. Expert Guidance: 15+ years of IT industry experience at your disposal. Comprehensive Training: Master the skills needed to excel as a software technical writer. Ready to Start or Advance Your Career? Call or Text: +91-7840841999 Schedule a FREE 1-on-1 Meeting: Let's discuss how you can achieve your career goals. Take the first step towards a rewarding career as a high-paying software technical writer. Contact me today! Become a Software Technical Writer from any  position in 1-3 months flat Get a 80-150% salary hike with just one job change without any negotiations and finally land a job in a top IT company with annual CTC of 1000000 Lac+ Note: This is a very niche training designed specifically for serious professionals. Proceed, only if you are the one. Schedule Your Free (worth 3999) Career Strategy Call with Rahul Karn As Featured On : Hey! I’m Rahul Karn, My mission is to help 10000 professionals in their transition from their current job to the role of  Software Technical Writer with my proven "High Paying Accelerated Program (HPAP) " even if they are on sabbatical or not from a technical background. If my mission resembles yours, join me and be a part of this movement. In this strategy call, You'll Discover.. Secret #1 How to get a high-paying Technical Writing job from the knowledge you already have? Secret #2 How to get job calls and convert calls into high-paying offer letters without any prior technical writing experience. Secret #3 How to learn and master the tools and concepts required to become a technical writer within 90 days. Schedule Your Free (worth 3999) Career Strategy Call with Rahul Karn In this day and age, you don’t need more “Gyan”. You need a clear direction and a real mentor. We help you take the guesswork out and actually guide you step-by-step on how to become software technical writer, without stress and overwhelm, so that you can have great career and live life on your terms. So, what is “High Paying Accelerated Program (HPAP)? Information Developer's “High Paying Accelerated Program (HPAP) is the industry’s #1 rated, world-class Technical writing coaching ecosystem specifically created to help people start and grow their technical writing career. Schedule Your Free (worth 3999) Career Strategy Call with Rahul KarnLearn about our students journey on which you can also travel and get success Chandrima DebFor a woman, it is not always easy to restart a career after the sabbatical. Don’t let your maternity bliss block the way of progress. Information Developers Foundation helps me lot in this journey.Rahul is one of the best mentor and guide I have come across. His humble attitude, deep knowledge on the subject and vast industry experience makes learning a delightful experience for all his students. The course is completely industry focused and covers the entire gamut of technical writing domain starting from the basics of writing to the latest development trends in the Industry. One feels completely Industry ready on completing the technical writing course at IDF. Apart from being a great mentor, Rahul is one of the most helpful and down to earth person. He goes that extra mile to support his students and ensure they are well placed in the professional path. My knowledge in the technical writing domain has increased by leaps and bounds after being associated with InfoDev. I shall be eternally thankful to Rahul for all his support and help. I look forward to many more sessions, charchas and webinars with Rahul and IDF.Chandrima DebSatyajeet MunjeI have always been amazed by Rahul’s ability to act politely and confidently in any situation. Few years back when we met, I still remember the mutual respect bond we shared together. I always admire your ability to support and guide others in the right direction. I am very fortunate to have you as my friend, guide, and mentor. He undoubtedly provides the best technical writing training in Pune. Satyajeet MunjeRed HatShweta SohuShweta was a technical writer and want to horn her skill to perform better in her job and she decided to join Information Developers Foundation technical writing course. Today she is working with the best technical writers in Cadence.Shweta SohuCadence Design SystemsAnuradha MalhotraAnuradha, an accomplished content writer was desperately looking to switch and take her career to the next level by learning technical writing. After lots of researches and references, she decided to join the Information Developers Foundation technical writing training program in Delhi.Read her experience. Originally written on InfoDev Technical writing mentor Rahul Karn LinkedIn profile.When I joined Apradocs (old name of Information Developers Foundation), I had an intuition that I have reached at the right place and under the right person. Rahul Sir, as my mentor for Technical Documentation, taught me all the fundamentals that are required to become a technical expert. Having worked as Senior Technical Specialist for 8 years, he has an extensive industry knowledge. I appreciate his way of teaching that was quite interactive and gave me a first-hand experience of what and

Education initiative in New Delhi   Rahul Karn and Rajeev Jain talking with students Going in the colleges and interacting with the new generation is really a very awesome experience. Recently STC I gave me this golden chance to talk about technical writing in RDIAS college, Rohini. Sharing report of Rajeev Jain who really did a very commendable job by organizing this event and warm thanks for inviting me to this wonderful event.  This is a report of education initiative circulated by Rajeev Jain.   About STC India education initiative Roli Sinha sharing her experience This is the first time in the history of  STC-India that the education team is reaching out to college and universities to conduct awareness sessions about technical communication, and help the students understand the career opportunities in the field of technical communication. STC India is making an attempt to bridge the Academia-Corporate gap by conducting FREE mentoring and guidance sessions.  IDF India team is extending all possible help to students, faculty, and colleges to: – Conduct awareness sessions on technical communication – Explore job/career opportunities in this field – Create curriculum for the short-term Industry-Ready courses – Help them understand the corporate needs and expectations from a Fresh Graduate – Enhance students employability and make them corporate ready and even connect them with the recruiter – Invite them to attend STC India conferences, seminars, workshops, and other events Event Update Venue: Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced Studies (RDIAS), Rohini, New Delhi. Date: April 6th, 2013 STC India Education team of 3R’s (Rajeev, Roli, and Rahul Karn) travelled from different locations to reach the venue on time. Roli and Rahul travelled all the way from another end of Delhi to reach the venue on time. STC team was greeted by dean-academics, director, and the senior professors of the college. All three of us were excited and were hoping at least 50-55 students (since it was a weekend, and the college was open only for this event). We were surprised to see almost 80+ MBA and MCA students. The session started around 10.15 am. Rajeev started the session by asking questions, such as ·         what made students attend this event? ·         why did they opt for the Master degree in management or computers? ·         What are the different job opportunities they are aware of? We were surprised to know that many students had heard about technical communication but till date, they had no-one who could explain and guide them. Rajeev gave a brief introduction to technical communication. He shared many Bollywood and real-life examples to explain the concepts in simple language. Roli shared her hiring experiences and what are the corporate expectations from a fresh graduate. She gave excellent examples of why certain skills are necessary to excel in this field. There were many lighter moments when Rahul started asking questions as a fresher who is looking for the first job. This helped students to open up and they started asking more and more questions. Rahul added more spice by sharing his valentine competition story. Some of the questions asked by students were related to: 1.       Starting salary and growth opportunities. 2.       Skill set required to excel in this field. 3.       Corporate expectations from a fresher 4.       Differences between technical writer and content writer. 5.       Work-life balance and work timings. 6.       Why don’t companies come for campus placement to hire fresher as writers? We anticipated that the event may get over by 12.00 o’clock, but we had to finally stop at 1.00 pm. We promised them to come back again to take up their remaining queries and conduct more sessions. Feedback Rajeev hosting the talk The college management shared instant feedback and informed us that the students were extremely happy and they found the session to be very good, interactive, and useful. The students wanted more sessions from the STC India team. The college management also invited us to conduct one or more event for students of other colleges of their group. Thank You Note: I take this opportunity to thank Roli and Rahul for all volunteer help and making it to the venue on time. The college academics and management team showed interest in introducing business communication and technical writing course for the MBA and MCA students on trial basis. Rajeev also checked their interest in hosting STC India conferences and other events and they happily offered their premises to conduct more such events. Next Event STC-India team is committed to conducting more such awareness sessions and workshops in colleges across the country. The next event is scheduled for April 13th at KIIT engineering and management college, Gurgaon. You are most welcome to volunteer and share your experiences with the students in future events. For more queries or information If you have any queries or need more information or know of any college or university interested in conducting such events at their premises, please contact  Rahul Karn (rahulkkarn@gmail.com) . Let’s work together to promote technical communication and contribute our niche to bridge the Academic-Corporate gap.  

How to estimate the rate for freelancing writing projects? Undoubtedly freelancing gives you priceless freedom of working and choosing your type of work, boss-free life, work from anywhere but it brings a lot of responsibilities and should be done with the discipline to be your own boss. My first triage with cost estimation as a consultant: 🤔 The year 2008, my client asked me how much you will charge? Hmm, I can complete this work in 1.5 days and I m earning 30k/mo so 1k will be the correct figure. If I ask for more he may not give this project to me and finally, after deep thinking  I quote INR999. Do you think it was the correct approach? NO-It was a disaster even he sign 5 more projects with me. To estimate the per hour rate for a freelancing project is one of the trickiest questions that come to our mind before taking any consultancy project? Continue reading otherwise your situation will be something like mine 🙂 🔥Not only in technical documentation, but you also face similar trouble in any freelancing work. In this blog post, I have written 💯 about the significant challenges and solutions for freelancing cost estimations. Share your experiences about cost estimates in the comment section. How to estimate the per hour rate for freelancing technical writing project is one of the tricky questions that come to the mind before taking any technical documentation project. Not only in technical documentation, but you also face similar trouble in any freelancing writing assignments like content writing, medical writing, and blogging. In one of my blog posts, I have written about the significant challenges of freelancing. Read the post before you foray into technical writing. I do not oversell freelancing for technical writers because freelancing work is limited in technical writing. You will get plenty of work in content writing, resume writing, Generally you will get contract technical writing work n which client will ask to write from client premise. There are many calculators available to calculate per hour rate for a freelancing project, but I firmly believe that you are the best person to judge “What should be your value”. In our content charcha (webinar) we recently invited Scheely to talk about her journey of freelancing. You can enjoy the recording of the webinar. Yes, there are many parameters which you should take into consideration before you fix your freelancing price. Pricing is one of the crucial aspects of any right business price that can win or lose you a project. Read “Pros and Cons of Contract Technical Writer Work” consider the points mentioned in it before doing any math for your rate. Math for calculating the hourly price for content freelancing work Simple maths you can do is take your monthly gross salary before deductions, round it up to an even number, and divide by 176 (the average hours per month,22×8). Suppose you want to earn INR 100000/month. In this case divide 100000/176=568.18. So, you should never ask anything less than INR 750 after negotiation you can quote a minimum INR 600. I will suggest quoting INR 1000 because you cannot work for 8 hours and many unseen issues can do your math wrong. Keep reading to know those unseen issues. By now your freelancing resume is ready and shortlisted by the client. If you want to learn about freelancer resume consider reading. Hope you get a rough estimate but before finalizing the rate consider the few points also. Points to consider for estimating the freelancing price of writing work- How many of your daily working hours are billable? How many days off do you need for holiday.s, sick days, and personal days each year? How much vacation time do you want each year? The number of visits and duration of meetings with the client. Make sure who is going to pay for this. Travel cost, phone bills, and courier charges if any. Investment in hardware, software, electricity, Internet bill even on coffee or water. Insurance cover, EPF, marketing, promotions, taxes, etc. Be ready for the negotiation, so always have Negotiation buffer. The duration of the project also matters. You can reduce the hourly rate for larger assignments. What kinds of documents will you be writing? Online help, Print docs, Web articles, Newsletters, Website content etc…? What kind of skill set is required? General or Rare? How desperately you want this project. Is it going to be an entry for you in a new line of business? If yes, quote less. Your existing or future relationship with the client. What is your expertise and experience level and how clients value that? Marketing expense. Like chasing the client, writing emails etc. You can get good freelancing work from the website like Upwork, e-lance,freelancer.com, etc. You can also contact agencies like Technowrites, Commit, ibruk etc. I got my first work through my friend Jeno Joy who was working with Dots consultancy in Mumbai (W). His company was in need of a freelance content writer and my journey started. It was the year 2008. Conclusion In freelancing it is also very important to estimate the time. If you have a correct estimation of time, you very quickly calculate the cost. Do not forget to fix the payment terms and conditions like advance and full payment duration. The client may ask for GST and invoice. So be ready with all these. Acceptance criteria and definition of done should be clear. How the quality of content will be measured and how many times you will rewrite the content should be clear during price and time fixation. Read how to estimate the time for a freelancing writing project. Always keep adjusting your fee, after all, you deserve increment:-). I’m eager to listen to your freelancing story please share in the comment.

How to start as a technical writer- My Journey It is was a regular working day in the office until I received a call !!! a call that suddenly dragged me a few years back when I was struggling to start my life, once again. Once again because after getting a fitness certificate post series of 3 major and few minor operations only in few years, now I was allowed to sit for few hours and travel without any support, but it was advisable to carry a stick to prevent undue pressure on the fractured fumer and tibia and the implant incorporated in it. After getting a wellness certificate a big question that bogs me down was “what next”? Being a pharma graduate I was supposed to join marketing, R&D, production but all of these options were closed for me because at that time I was not physically fit for any this job in a nutshell pharma sector had closed the door for me. “What next”? What to do? Back to college again for masters or MBA? Will after selling out a few lakhs and years companies will hire me? Not sure. Already my parents were in debt due to my operation and sister marriage, so how much it was prudent for me to bet on higher education. I was not sure, then start looking for industries which can hire me…in this quest my brother –in –law (jija ji) asked me “if you can write in times of India and win a bike, why don’t you take writing as a full-time career”. Not a bad idea!!! An idea can change your life, it was then he introduced me to one of his friend sister who was then a tech writer in Nokia. After talking to her I was fully convinced this is the field where I will get job satisfaction and my love for word will sure help me to excel in this field. Again the question remains the same where to start from? Series of phone calls to the friends, friends of friends, and their friends to get a clue what is technical writing is all about, eligibility, future, growth, and many other questions and after getting every question answered, the battle starts to find a good institution from where I can start my journey as a writer. Few good institutes were there in the town at that time I was in Bangalore but their fees were not affordable for me, finally joined a small but good institution. when my syllabus was about to finish I start looking for a job, get my resume done, posted on different job portals, and finally, I get a call for an interview CALL !!! Yes, call from the same company whose representative call me today and that call motivates me to write this blog but yes nature and tone of the call were different. I appeared but I failed in that interview. Today just after a few years when I got a call from the same company with the offering for the post of project manager with handsome increment, the condition was only to handle there telecom domain projects. They lured me with all possible means to relocate to Bangalore. I hope this happened just because of the blessing of parents, god grace, and probably my never to die attitude, determination to come out from spare to sunshine. I believe when one door is close 100 open probably I’m one classical example of it. My only motto to write this blog to stand with those friends who are down due to some of the reasons, it is not at all self-promotional.