Being a technical writer during this recession period

The BIG question
"Will the Recession hurt my writing career?."

The current scenario
Experts repeat by the day that this recession is the worst ever and that we're only seeing its beginning now. If you look around at all the jobs affected by the current situation, you would actually find out that technical writers are one of the only ones with their heads above water. However this situation is bound to change when the recession advances into the next couple of quarters.
But in answer to the question, the recession does lead to companies laying off its writers. But do companies lay off all its employees? No! So who do they not lay off? Those who have made themselves critical to the organization!

So how do we make ourselves critical to the organization?
One skill that definitely would come in handy is proactively seeking work in your team. During crisis times, an employee who waits for work to be delivered to them may be the first to go unlike those who prove to be bankable time & time again. Some of the ways to become the most important resource to your team is by offering to extend your support to any critical deliverables, by being the first to come up with ideas to improve the quality of a process or documentation, and by building your network in the industry. The more interesting you appear to a competitor, the more your organization will try to retain you.

Continuously build your skills
Industry experts maintain that it's best to stick with product-development companies than services-based as the stability of the former outweighs the other... well atleast in most cases. Product-based companies basically look for technically proficient people, those who are good with grasping product knowledge... those who share a passion about the product that the company is selling. Project this character well & you're well in safe boundaries.
For services-based companies, marketing your skill sets is the basic mantra.
-Pick up the current trends in the industry.
-Learn new documentation concepts: DITA, modular documentation, XML-based authoring, etc.
-Get skilled in new tools by practicing on trial versions.
-Present topics at STC study sessions.
-Suggest time-saving steps that can improve your company's documentation process.
-Work overtime & ensure you gain visibility for it.

The Computer Science & IT industry is one that's still driving many nations to its growth. It can never be done away with. For this very reason, it can be said that if you work hard and smart, nobody can take your job away from you. If you don't give your best, remember there are plenty out there to replace you.

As much as the software industry is a nice field to stick to, it also doesn't hurt to skill yourself by writing for other fields. Add to your versatility by taking up freelance or second jobs in instructional design, marketing writing, business writing, resume writing (there are many job-seekers out there!), and company SOPs. Additionally you can also take up training work for documentation tools and concepts for a fee.

Write in with your comments.

Legerdemain by Greshma Dhanarajan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at www.blogger.com.