I work as a technical writer for our lab management software. My job is to write documentation to help our users work with our software, including help systems, tutorials, and release notes.

A typical day might include discussing software changes with the developers and updating the appropriate documents, attending meetings to discuss changes to the way we write and publish our documents, and working on individual projects to further my knowledge in a new area or about a new piece of software.

I like, that it makes use of my scientific knowledge and experience, and also, that it gives me a good work-life balance. I personally enjoy the stability and reliability of regular 9-5 hours and I love that I don’t take my work home with me. It means I have a decent amount of time to spend with my family and to work on my hobbies. This aspect of work life wasn’t that important to me when I left Sheffield, indeed, if at the time you had mentioned the possibility of an office-based 9-5 job I would probably have reacted with pure horror. However, over the years, time outside of work has become more and more important to me, particularly as my family has grown and my hobbies have taken on greater importance.

The main challenge in my job is to try and write clearly and concisely, to ensure you get across the required information as efficiently as possible. This is often harder than it sounds. We also have some input into software design and work with external clients to ensure that our documentation is as useful as possible.

The work requires not only good writing skills, but also a scientific background, so you can actually understand the software and how people use it.

I started my undergraduate degree in 2005 with the aim of becoming an academic, in fact there was absolutely nothing else in the world I could conceive of doing. When I left Sheffield in 2009 I did a PhD in palaeontology and geochemistry at the University of Manchester. I had a fantastic time as a PhD student, it was incredible to be doing interesting research and getting paid for it. There were so many opportunities to travel, and I ended up doing all sorts of interesting things from working in Synchrotron facilities in California, scanning 160 million year old feather fossils, to setting up a replica Gorgosaurus at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition and getting to talk to loads of people about my research. However, during my time as a PhD student, much as I loved it, I got a better idea of the ins and outs of an academic career and for many and varied reasons decided it just wasn’t for me. This was surprisingly hard to admit to myself. I had invested so heavily in academia as a career that I really wasn’t sure what to do next. Thankfully, as my PhD finished in 2013, my research group was awarded a grant that meant I could stay as a research technician for a few years. This was a great job that I really loved. I got to be part of the research without many of the issues that had dissuaded me from a traditional academic career. However, like all grant work, after a few years the money ran out and I had to look for something else. I tried to find another technician position in a research facility but struggled to find anywhere advertising a permanent position, which is one of the major complications with academic careers. Also by this point I was married, with a new baby and had a mortgage to pay for, so I really wanted something permanent. Eventually a friend told me about the job I currently have, I applied and was quickly hired on the back of my experience in scientific research and samples of my writing.

Honestly I’m not sure where I see myself in the future. I’m fortunate to be in a job that I enjoy and that uses my skills. I have good opportunities to learn new things, and my company places value on improving their employees knowledge. I don’t know if I want to be in this specific job forever, but at the moment it suits me. For the first time in my life I find myself with no long term plan, which at first I found a little jarring, but as my circumstances have changed my priorities have too. My family and my hobbies have become more important to me.

If anyone were interested in entering a career as a technical writer I would advise getting some experience in writing manuals, tutorials, and help documents. For example, I wrote How To guides for various pieces of our lab equipment for some of our students while I was a technician to help them analyse samples. You need experience in trying to convey complicated information in a clear and concise way, using graphics and videos too if you can.

In general, I would emphasise the need to try and maintain a sense of flexibility about your career, and not to be too disappointed if things don’t quite go how you wanted. Having a plan for your future career is great, and if you know what you want to do then by all means go for it. But just bear in mind that circumstances change, and sometimes you may find that, for whatever reason, things just don’t work out the way you wanted them to. It’s not the end of the world and just because you end up doing something different doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it. It can be very hard to change direction when you have wanted something for so long, but allowing for that possibility will keep you happier in the long run.