Are there any technical writer jobs available in the Washington D.C. area? (Chantilly: rent, loans)

[slaminjamin87]

Hello city data,

My name is Yasin, a recent contractor for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in Rockville MD and a 2010 graduate of George Mason University. I am new to the city data forum, and since it has a wide ranges of topics and forums, I figure it will be a great time to discuss my job search situation on this forum. I'm in my early-to-mid 20s age group and I live in Vienna VA area, so I guess finding a full time position can be very difficult since college graduates are entering a recession.

Currently, I'm looking for a full time job in the technical writing field because my contract at FINRA expired last July. Therefore, I want to know if there are any permanent or contract technical writer job openings in the Washington D.C. area? I have only 2-4 years of experience in technical writing. However, what frustrates me is that I found several openings that requires 5-10 years of experience, and in some cases, it requires a government security clearance. As for location, I prefer working in the Northern Virginia area, but I'm open to other technical writer opportunities in DC and Maryland.

I am interested in going back to contracting, but only if it's 6-12 months or contract to hire basis. However, I'm planning to move out of my parents house early next year, and if I take a 6-12 month contract position, I might not able to move out and rent a place. My students loans will be paid off completely with a couple months after I get a new job, so that loan debt won't be a concern for me at all.

I really want a permanent position in technical writing, but the process is taking longer than I expected. I been looking for a permanent job for 2 months and so far, there has been no results. If a contracting position becomes available in my field, I might just take it and look for a permanent job while working.

Therefore, do you folks have any advice on my job situation?? Should I take a 6 month contract position if it becomes available or continue to find a permanent job only?? At this point,
I'm open to anything that becomes available in technical writing, but at the same time, I want to move out and get a place for myself.

Thanks for your help!!!

[terrence81]

Hiya. I'm a Technical Writer too. Is your resume online at monster and dice? If not it needs to be there.

You have to start somewhere. I say take the temp job until something better comes along. I hope you're not sitting at home unemployed while waiting for the perfect job. Temp jobs are actually much easier to get and they can lead to something more permanent. Also the more experience you have on your resume the better.

[slaminjamin87]

Good advice!!! I do have my resume available on dice, indeed, careerbuilder, and monster. I am applying a lot of technical writing positions everyday, but I'm just waiting for the perfect permanent job at this time, which is probably the worst thing I can do now.

I did receive a lot of calls from various staffing agencies and some in-person interviews for permanent positions over the past 2 months. So basically, its the "wait and see" approach, which is very annoying because I'm just very anxious to get back to work immediately. That's the reason why I'm considering going back to contracting like you previously stated.

Speaking of contracting, I did a call yesterday from a recruiter at Convergenz, a staffing agency based in Tysons Corner. They did had a technical writer position available for a 6 month contract-to-hire at PDRI in Chantilly VA. The position seems to be a great fit, so Covergenz submitted my resume to them and they will let me know sometime early next week when PDRI responds to my resume. Hopefully, this positon works out for the best and I get back to work very soon!!!

[CAVA1990]

My brother does technical writing for assignments he finds on-line. Have you looked into that?

[slaminjamin87]

No, I haven't look into that yet. To be honest, I didn't even know if there were technical writing assignments available online. Please send me the link and more details on those assignments. Thanks!!

[kiddhan625]

Try searching Job Search | one search. all jobs. Indeed.com

Good search engine for jobs.

[slaminjamin87]

Originally Posted by kiddhan625

Try searching Job Search | one search. all jobs. Indeed.com

Good search engine for jobs.

Indeed is a great job search site, but most of those technical writer jobs posted are required with a security clearance. Indeed has landed me some calls and one interview though, so it can be very helpful pending what type of experience a company needs from a candidate.

Also, what do you think about craigslist? I haven't use it that often because most of those job postings are fake and I hear a lot of bad stuff about it in general

[NYmama2dallas]

Just curious-what kind of writing is "technical" writing? What do you write?

[slaminjamin87]

Originally Posted by NYmama2dallas

Just curious-what kind of writing is "technical" writing? What do you write?

A technical writer usually writes and maintain technical documentation such as instruction guides, user guides, and online manuals. In order to get it done accurately, the writer must coordinate with several different team members to make sure that the document is fully corrected and completed.

For example, at my last position at FINRA, I gained a tremendous amount of experience by creating procedures, policies, and standard documents, and used SharePoint and confluence to maintain the documentation. I did coordinated with several different co-workers to make sure that the documentation reflects on the current state and issues with windows, log files, and Vmware.

[kutra11]

Originally Posted by slaminjamin87

A technical writer usually writes and maintain technical documentation such as instruction guides, user guides, and online manuals. In order to get it done accurately, the writer must coordinate with several different team members to make sure that the document is fully corrected and completed.

For example, at my last position at FINRA, I gained a tremendous amount of experience by creating procedures, policies, and standard documents, and used SharePoint and confluence to maintain the documentation. I did coordinated with several different co-workers to make sure that the documentation reflects on the current state and issues with windows, log files, and Vmware.

Please treat this as constructive criticism... ...

Yasin:

You should really improve your writing skills. Your posts are rife with grammatical errors. Tech-Writing Hiring Managers have a very, very low threshold for forgiving typos and errors when reviewing resumes from Tech Writers. They expect their fellow brethren to be as meticulous as possible when it comes to writing.

If you have a resume and a cover letter, comb through it with the most minute details. Your resume and cover letter reflect who you are and what you do for a living... ...that is, you write, and they are supposed to present your superior writing skills! Unlike a developer who can get his/her foot through the door with a sloppy resume (purely by virtue of technical key words) and then impress the hiring managers by writing code in the interview, your challenge or opportunity to impress the hiring manager starts with having an impeccable resume and cover letter.

A lot of companies have written tests during the in-person interview. This is to evaluate the candidate's writing skills. They do it because it is hard to judge if the pre-interview, submitted written samples were really written by the candidate.

Good luck!