How Much Should You Charge for Technical Writing?
by Mimi Hill
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Not What You Wanted to Read About? Full Time Work Many sites on the Internet provide salary comparison charts. They all seem to report approximately the right range of salaries: The high end topping out at ~$85,000 (US) and the low end begins in the low 20's (US). Prices vary according to experience and geographic location. That is quite a range but even if you start off low, there is a lot of opportunity for growth in this field once you have a bit of experience. If you are coming out of working for non-profits or not-for-profits, you may have a sense of loyalty that is not necessary in the High Tech industry. People move around a lot and the earth doesn't shatter. This was hard for me to get through my head but it is important to remember if you start off at the bottom of the ladder because there isn't necessarily a lot of room for hierarchical growth, most of your growth within the same company will probably be lateral. For Contract Work The high end is $65 per hour and the low end is about $13.00. Consider
using LoudPC if you are going to be jumping from site to site. It is a new product from Loudfire enabling direct access to your PC's Outlook(tm) from any Internet browser or web phone.No synchronization required. Works with your existing email accounts. Accesses all of your folders. All changes reflected immediately in your Outlook(tm)..
Here is where you can Download the FREE trial software Exceptions There are always exceptions. I know a FrameMaker expert who is making $125.00-150.00 per hour plus travel). I interviewed for a job that paid no more then $5.00 per hour to start. Luckily I didn't need to take it.
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Double-Check Here are three salary comparison sites which seem quite popular right now: According to the U.S. Department of Labor's "Occupational Outlook Handbook", the median annual earnings for writers and editors, including technical writers, were $36,480 in 1998. The middle 50 percent earned between $27,030 and $49,380 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $20,920 and the highest 10 percent earned over $76,660. Senior Technical Writer Most jobs I've seen posted want at least 2 and often 4 years experience in order to be hired as a Senior Technical Writer. If you are trying to enter the field of Technical Writing as a Senior Technical Writer, make sure you know how to use all of the software products I mention, how to estimate documentation projects, how alpha/beta/gamma cycles work, version control and that you know a lot about the product you will be documenting. These things will be expected of you. If you are interested in learning more about these topics in the future, you are welcome to sign up for my newsletter.
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