For those of us who communicate technical content for a living, we share many job titles, such as technical writer, information developer, technical communicator, multimedia engineer, content developer, and many others. Without one focused set of titles, how did we know this is what we wanted to do?
The truth is…like many other technical communicators…I didn’t. I graduated with a Computer Science degree and a Mathematics degree. I took a few Tech Comm courses at Penn State, but I had never heard of Technical Communication as a profession. I was going to be a programmer, like all good Computer Science graduates. But then, something happened… After developing my first database-driven security system, I had to document the system and train others how to use it. This process introduced me to my future career. I had always enjoyed teaching and coaching…and this was teaching through a different medium.