On behalf of the membership: Thank you, John, for sharing your thoughts and experience with us!

About John

Guild member John Boylan began in the writing biz in 1975, and has been an editor at Microsoft “off and on” since 1980—mostly “on” since 1996. At that time he had been an editor for Reflex magazine (an art publication). The art background helped him transition into a contract position with MSN when that division was trying to produce Web content with fancy graphics, animation, and online art. But alas, the project failed and John got out.

He went to work for other company(s) producing “Help” projects, writing instructions on how to use software. Again, he parlayed this experience into interviews with Microsoft in the late ’90s, though he says he interviewed for nine months before actually getting in. One of his first projects was to repackage 85 pages of e-mails into a 55-page manual, which indicated to his bosses that he had a knack for developmental editing. That was about three years ago. Since then, John has performed various technical editing functions, but today his role is in acquisitions.

John’s talk

John explained that the traditional definition of “technical” communication might bring to mind a Boeing example: someone who produces progress reports, service bulletins, descriptions of how equipment works and the like. John said this kind of writing has a style that is similar to business writing—sharp, succinct, with core elements upfront.

In the software world, John said, technical communication has to do with explaining how software works. “You don’t need specific software knowledge, but you need to know how to research.” He compared technical communication to foreign-language editing; software is just another “language” to be translated into plain English.

John said the majority of work in technical editing is copyediting—editing for clarity and to minimize jargon. Thus, you can get into the business if your background in editing is strong, even if you don’t have software experience. Most tech companies follow a combination of Chicago style and Microsoft Style for Technical Publications (MSTP).

In response to a member question, John said that more and more editing is being done online (as opposed to on hard copy) to save time. Depending on the company and the project, editors may use revision marks or the Track Changes feature of Word, but other times they may just make the changes online and call it done, without necessarily noting the changes made. Most experienced members present agreed that it’s almost essential to work from a hard copy and then make the changes online, rather than doing the entire project on the screen.

Breaking into technical communication

John recommended researching the products and the issues involved, though not necessarily how to use the products. You just need to be able to talk about them, he said. “An editor knows how something is done, not how to do it.” Then in the interview you can say, “I haven’t written about or edited software, but I’ve done a lot of research about it.” You want to show your willingness to learn, he said.

Along this same line, another Guild member advised not to be intimidated by job requirements (on job postings) that you must have working knowledge of particular software. She suggested doing the research, as above, or “looking over the shoulder” of a friend who’s working with a particular software product. Then in the interview you can say, “I’ve worked with that [software] a little bit,” or “I’m familiar with …” Then, when you get the job, you can put yourself through a crash course to get up to speed. This member also suggested playing up the technical aspects of everything you’ve ever done, such as a procedures manual, even as a volunteer. Then in the interview, John suggested, you can say something like: “All I’ve done in this [previous experience] follows the same rules as in this [software].”

John pointed out that doing this research will also show you whether you even “want to do this stuff!” He said it’s very dry; not a lot of “fun.” He said an absolute requirement of getting involved in technical communication is being relaxed around machines.

John and other members indicated that freelance and contract work is in less demand now since the dot-com fallout six months to a year ago. They advised checking into Microsoft’s job board, but said Microsoft is far from the only game in town. One member suggested that Seattle Writergrrls can be a good source of leads.

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