The Profession

What does technical communication mean? The profession of a technical writer (technical communicator) has existed only since the 1960s and is therefore a relatively recent field of work. For this reason, many companies and individuals are not familiar with the term even though the work is omnipresent. Technical writers explain how to use technology correctly. This may sound banal at first, but is undeniably becoming increasingly important in an era of unprecedented technological influence. Due to rapid mechanization and the associated complexity of products, many consumers lose track of usage and application possibilities. They need help.

Technical writers can meet this need. They create detailed information about the product and help to remove usage obstacles. While doing so, they focus intently on user experience. To optimize this work, they work hand-in-hand with new media and innovations such as Industry 4.0. Technical communication is a future-oriented, promising and exciting field of work to be in.

Education

Technical communication study programmes have been offered since the 1990s. Several programmes at European universities provide technical communication education at different levels for different degrees. The different programmes offer basic or advanced studies in technical communication, at bachelor’s, specialisation, or Master’s levels.

But not every European country has programmes in this field, and some countries that have programmes still cannot meet labour market demands. More programmes are needed and will be implemented in the future. Therefore, guidelines and a framework for teaching support the development of programmes, to enable graduates to reach a standard and meet competence requirements. There is huge market demand for graduates from the field. There are also very good opportunities for career changers, for example from engineering or translation studies. They can switch to the field of technical communication through a study programme or further professional training.

The TecCOMFrame Project

The acronym "TecCOMFrame for the project stands for "Technical Communication Competence Framework". It is EU-funded as an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project between 9 partners. The aim of the TecCOMFrame project is to improve higher education in the field of technical communication. The project consortium developed an academic competence framework for technical communication. This should serve as a guideline for competencies needed for the profession and as a European standard for the training of technical writers at higher education institutes. In addition, prototypical curricula were developed based on the competence framework. They are intended to support higher education institutes that wish to implement or update study programmes in technical communication.

Networking

As the European association for technical communication, tekom is the platform for information and communication around the job and the sector of technical communication. With various events and platforms, tekom provides opportunities to learn about technical communication, and to exchange information and network, e.g. between students, employees, managers, service providers and all those interested in technical communication. In the annual Academic Colloquium, the latest scientific findings are presented and networking events offer opportunities for exchange and cooperation.