The UK recruitment site, itjobswatch.co.uk, adds that for the 6 months to 17 April 2009, IT jobs within the UK that cited Technical Writer in their job title mentioned the following IT skills in order of popularity. A quick glance at this list shows us the popularity of Adobe and Microsoft tools, especially FrameMaker, Visio and RoboHelp.

What surprised me in this list was ‘Advertising’. This comes in at 12, higher than Microsoft Office, Acrobat and business analysis skills.

The figures indicate the number of jobs and their proportion against the total number of IT job ads sampled with Technical Writer in their job title.

1 37 (44.05 %) HTML
2 27 (32.14 %) FrameMaker
3 23 (27.38 %) XML
4 21 (25.00 %) Degree
5 20 (23.81 %) Telecoms
6 17 (20.24 %) Java
7 16 (19.05 %) MS Visio
8 15 (17.86 %) RoboHelp
8 15 (17.86 %) Marketing
9 11 (13.10 %) Adobe
10 9 (10.71 %) MS Excel
11 8 (9.524 %) C
12 7 (8.333 %) C++
12 7 (8.333 %) Wiki
12 7 (8.333 %) Advertising
13 6 (7.143 %) Finance
13 6 (7.143 %) Insurance
13 6 (7.143 %) MS Office
13 6 (7.143 %) Acrobat
14 5 (5.952 %) Delphi
14 5 (5.952 %) C#
14 5 (5.952 %) Business Analysis
14 5 (5.952 %) Education
14 5 (5.952 %) Intranet
14 5 (5.952 %) Mobile Commerce
14 5 (5.952 %) Security Cleared
15 4 (4.762 %) Product Management
15 4 (4.762 %) Paint Shop Pro
15 4 (4.762 %) IP Telephony
15 4 (4.762 %) Subversion

Top Related IT Skills by Category

For the 6 months to 17 April 2009, IT jobs within the UK that cited Technical Writer in their job title mentioned the following IT skills grouped by category.

The figures indicate the number of jobs and their proportion against the total number of IT job ads sampled with Technical Writer in their job title.

Technical Writing Applications

1 27 (32.14 %) FrameMaker
2 16 (19.05 %) MS Visio
3 15 (17.86 %) RoboHelp
4 9 (10.71 %) MS Excel
5 6 (7.143 %) Acrobat
5 6 (7.143 %) MS Office
6 4 (4.762 %) Photoshop
6 4 (4.762 %) Paint Shop Pro

Again I was surprised that Microsoft Office was less in demand that Microsoft Visio. While this is a terrific diagramming tool, I’d have thought that writers with Excel and Office skills would have been more in demand.

These figures show the most in demand skills place in IT job ads with the word Technical Writer in their job title.

Technical Writing Skills

1 37 (44.05 %) HTML
2 23 (27.38 %) XML
3 4 (4.762 %) Java SE
3 4 (4.762 %) Java EE
4 3 (3.571 %) Web Services
4 3 (3.571 %) XSL
4 3 (3.571 %) Flash
4 3 (3.571 %) .NET
4 3 (3.571 %) ASP.NET
5 2 (2.381 %) CSS
5 2 (2.381 %) XHTML
5 2 (2.381 %) XSLT

Finally, you can see the importance of mark-up languages, such as HTML, XML and its variants. Technical Writers seeking to advance their careers may want to consider the advantages of up skilling in Java and Web Services and reconsider the value of Microsoft technologies.

While I’ve done very well from Microsoft and its toolsets, the trends from this list seems to illustrate a movement to Java and web technologies. Indeed with the rising popularity of Google Docs and other online office applications, Technical Writers may consider exploring this area if they wish to stay ahead of the pack and place themselves in a more advantageous position vis-à-vis their peers.

Technologies I’m currently investing my energy in include Ajax, Cloud Computing and the Android operating system from Google. I’m preparing a web cast on Android, so if you want to learn more abut this please check back next week and look for it in the Tutorials section.

Related posts:

1. What type of skills do Technical Writers need? What type of skills do Technical Writers need? Technical writers...
2. Hourly rates for Technical Writers Hourly rates for Technical Writers...
3. HP Technical Writer- ChongQing, China HP is looking for a tech writer to join its...
4. How to Interview Technical Writers Here are some tips for interviewing technical writers, for example,...
5. Technical Writer – Fribourg, Switzerland Actuate Corporation (www.actuate.com ) is searching for a Technical Writer...