Communicating complex information is not everyone’s cup of tea. That is why writing such information to make a non-specialist understand is a valuable skill that too highly paid. To learn this skill, seekers can go for professional technical writing courses.
What is Professional Technical Writing?
Professional Technical Writing teaches students the concise way of writing technical documents which, is a growing need in today’s digital world, workplaces, and organizations. Jobs in this field are growing at a frightening pace, and the median pay for professional technical writers is around 3-6LPA.
What is the role of a Professional Technical Writer?
A technical writer should be able to deliver highly perplexing information in an easy-to-grasp, structured and targeted way. Engineers, scientists, software developers, product developers, and business analysts use technical writing to share their knowledge with a defined audience.
What are the responsibilities of a Professional Technical Writer?
A successful technical writer should be able to comply with the below-mentioned criteria.
- Work with technical teams to develop a deep understanding of the product/service.
- Produce user-friendly documentation that meets the standard of the intended audience.
- Create Tutorials to help end-users understand the product better.
- Create and maintain a comprehensive database of reference materials, research, and product specifications.
- Gather feedback to improve the content.
You may want to know about the Top 10 Universities in the World
What are the career options in Professional Technical Writing?
- Content Developers
- Manual writers
- Technical Illustrators
- Content Writers
- Policy Writers
- Technical Trainers
- Web Writers
- Documentation specialists
- Financial report developers
Learn about Career Growth in Technical Writing
How to become a Professional Technical Writer?
There are countless courses available on online learning websites.
- These courses are offered at either certification level or diploma level
- Duration of certificate courses can run from a few hours to up to 1 year
- You can find these courses free of cost and in some cases have unlimited time
Also, check How to Get Technical Writing Jobs
Professional Technical Writing Online Certificate Courses
1. Coursera
One of the largest online learning platforms, Coursera offers 3000 online courses in hundreds of disciplines. It presents a selection of self-paced, online courses on professional technical writing. Their courses range from the basic to the advanced level.
Here are some courses you can take a look at.
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
An intermediate course designed specifically to develop professional technical writing skills. It teaches technical writing in different aspects, for example, laboratory reports, feasibility reports, research reports, and design.
Course duration: 19 hours
Course fee: Free
Platform: online
Course details:
- 19 hours of learning
- Shareable certificates
- Flexible deadline
- Practice quizzes
- Graded assignments with feedback
- Programming assignments
Course curriculum:
- Introduction(1 video,6 readings)
- Module 1: From start to finish(9 videos, 1reading, 7quizzes)
- Module 2: Organizing information(9 videos, 2readings, 8quizzes)
- Module 3: Researching( 10 videos, 1reading, 7quizzes)
- Module 4: Capstone project( 4 videos, 1reading, 3quizzes)
This course has a rating of 4.6 with 113 reviews on Coursera and is a good one if you want to study at your own pace without spending money.
- Writing skills for Engineering leader
This course is provided by Rice University. It is a beginner-level course which is free of cost. Rice University is one of the top 20 universities in the U.S.A and comes in the top 100 in the world. This course offers to teach professional, reader-focused, and error-free writing.
Course duration: 17 hours
Course fee: Free
Platform: online
Course details:
- Flexible deadlines
- Shareable certificate
- Beginner level
- 17 hours course
- Approaches various engineering genres
Course curriculum:
- Week 1: course introduction that is divided into 3parts. It contains 12 videos, 14 readings, and 3quizzes
- Week 2: developing paragraphs and writing reports which include 9videos, 4readings, and 2quizzes
- Week 3: clarity and conciseness( 8 videos, 3readings, 2quizzes)
- Week 4: finishing touches( 9 videos, 6readings, 1quiz)
With the rating of 4.7 and 76 reviews, it is an apt professional technical writing course for those having an Engineering background, and those who want to pursue writing with the same Background.
2. Udemy
Like Coursera, Udemy is an online platform with massive information on hundreds of fields. It’s a global marketplace for learning and teaching, connecting billions of students with the skills they wish to learn. Few certification courses that can make you proficient in professional technical writing are:
- Business Writing and Technical Writing Immersion
A 12 step course accommodating 60 practical techniques is a go-to course for those who want to work on initial writing analysis to final copy.
Course duration: 4.5 hours
Course fee: INR 3200/-
Platform: online
Course details:
- Full-lifetime access
- 66 downloadable resources
- On-demand videos
- Certificate on completion
- 5 hours of video content
- Access on mobile and TV
Course curriculum:
- Introduction & Overview- 10 min- 1 lecture
- Step 1 – Analyze purpose- 8 min- 1 lecture
- Step 2 – Analyze audience- 9 min- 1 lecture
- Step 3 – Writing the Purpose Statement- 10 min- 1 lecture
- Step 4 – Gathering information- 2 min- 1 lecture
- Step 5 – Writing the sentence outline-36 min- 4 lectures
- Step 6 – Writing the draft- 10 min- 1 lecture
- Step 7 – Revising content and organization- 6 min-2 lectures
- Step 8 – Editing for coherence- 26 min- 6 lectures
- Step 9 – Editing for clarity- 1 hr 8 min- 8 lectures
- Step 10 – Editing for economy- 28 min- 3 lectures
- Step 11 – Editing for readability- 14 min- 1 lecture
- Step 12 – Conclusion and final thoughts- 3 min- 1 lecture
- Appendix B – Tips for writing emails- 6 min-1 lecture
- Appendix C – ESL Articles, Attitude and Approach, and Tenses- 37 min- 6 lectures
With a rating of 4.4 and 2,223 reviews, it is one of the best-seller courses on Udemy. Till now, 23,241 students have taken up this course to improve their professional technical writing.
- Tech Writers Master Class
Tech Writers master class developed based on interviews of more than 50 technical professionals. This course specifically focuses on improving your technical writing and is for those who are either technical writers looking to enhance their writing or those technical professionals who are interested in professional technical writing.
Course duration: 5.5 hours
Course fee: INR 4480/-
Platform: online
Course details:
- 5 hours on-demand video
- 6 articles
- 7 downloadable resources
- Full-lifetime access
- Access on mobile and TV
- Assignments
Course curriculum:
- Introduction to Tech Writers Master Class- 5 lectures- 40 min
- Analyzing your readers- 5 lectures- 24 min
- Getting ready to write- 5 lectures- 25 min
- Writing with style- 3 lectures- 34 min
- Choosing the right words- 4 lectures- 36 min
- Writing powerful sentences- 4 lectures- 31 min
- Write paragraphs that flow – 3 lectures – 29 min
- Adding graphics to your Documents – 4 lectures – 28 min
- Document design- 4 lectures- 30 min
- The Anatomy of Great Technical Documents- 3 lectures- 35 min
- Making your Documents the best they can Be- 4 lectures- 35 min
This course has a rating of 4.5 and 325 student reviews. Till now, 1594 students have enrolled and completed this course. If you are from a technical background, this course is for you.
3. Communicaid
Communicaid is a platform that helps organizations in overcoming the communication hurdle they face. Its chief motive is to make organizations ready for global communication. The technical writing course offered by Communicaid provides practical frameworks and skills required to convert highly complex subjects into reader-friendly content.
Course benefits:
- It will provide you with a framework for better planning and structuring technical documents
- You can understand your consumer needs better
- Practical tools will be utilized to express complex ideas and issues to expert and non-expert audience
- How visual tools can enhance your reports/documents
- Editing and proofreading techniques
Who should attend this course?
- Engineer or scientist who is required to write reports
- One who writes technical specifications as part of proposals
Course curriculum:
- Audience analysis
- Planning techniques
- Layout and structure
- Signposting to support your reader
- Presenting numbers, charts, and graphics
- Highlighting benefits
- Appropriate use of jargon
- Editing and improving readability
Course duration:
In India, the course is available as a 2-day course after consultation and diagnosis of your needs. They also have offline training centers in London, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, and New York.
For more details, visit their website and contact them.
Also, check career opportunities as a technical writer
4. Information Developers Foundation
Information Developers foundation is founded by Rahul Karn, a Technical writer with 15 years of experience. He started this training to educate students on how to become a technical writer. He has also been mentoring students for more than ten years now and has organized and furthermore attended conferences for the same reason.
Right now, he is providing a technical writing workshop online of 90 minutes which is free of cost. Alternatively, he also has offline classes for a full-fledged technical writer course that cost around INR 24,300.
Course duration: 90 minutes
Course fee: Free
Platform: online
What you will learn:
- Why you should learn technical writing
- How to attract top employers and work on your own schedule
- How to earn more money from technical writing than a 9 to 5 job
5. TechWriter-Certification
TechWriter-Certification was established by Dr. John Reid and Dr. Kenneth Rainey who taught this course in their respective institutes in Georgia. Then they developed additional courses of study but targeted the workforce. This formed the foundation of technical writing programs that the site offers.
They have a lot of certifications put together for a specific set of people. Some of them are:
- Basic certificate in Technical writing
It consists of three courses. It is an instructor-led program designed for individuals who do not have any experience in this field, those who want to step into technical writing as a career.
Learning Objectives
- Recognize all types of technical documents
- How to perform an audience analysis
- Creating effective documentation
- Applying apt design elements
- Analyze the task
- Reviewing the content
- Writing a style guide
Course curriculum:
- Introduction to technical communication
- What to learn to become a technical writer
- Analyze content, purpose, and design of documents
- A proper way of using visual display
- Using charts and tables to communicate data
- Applying Gestalt principles
- Analyzing task
- Reviewing grammatical structure
- Deliver a quality product after editing it
- Understanding various levels of editing
- Using formatting styles, headings, and templates
- End-user specified content
The second course in this program is Intermediate technical writing which introduces you to basic page design, standard format, and style techniques for the document.
Course curriculum:
- Lists and headings
- Special graphics and notices
- Highlighting key points and tables
- Writing project
There will be assessments in the form of quizzes and projects. It will be reviewed by the instructor.
The third course in this program is Advanced Technical Writing. Here you will examine different types of communications which will help in understanding the flow of the document to garner a specific audience with a specific purpose.
Course curriculum:
- Identifying key components to deliver user-centric content
- Define the end-user experience and develop the content accordingly
- Interpret data in the correct format
- Editing in different ways to produce the highest quality product at the end
The course is not self-paced but has a specified period in which it is to be completed. After completion of the course, students may apply for paper certifications from one of the Accredited University Partners. The processing fee for the University certificate will apply.
The duration of the whole course is 90 hours.
Learn the Fundamentals of Technical Writing in 7 Minutes
- Certificate in Professional Technical communication
This program focuses on advanced writing styles specific to a particular field of technical writing. You will be focusing on writing reports, feasibility studies, project proposals, presentations, website communications, manuals, and other forms of technical content.
Course duration: 140 hours
Course curriculum:
- Lesson 1: getting started with a Professional technical communications project
- Lesson 2: Writing a proposal
- Lesson 3: Writing a data report
- Lesson 4: Writing a research paper
- Lesson 5: Writing a How-to guide
- Lesson 6: Writing a user-guide part 1
- Lesson 7: Writing a user-guide part 2
- Lesson 8: writing instructional material
- Lesson 9: writing magazine articles
It is a self-paced program. There will be no instructor, only detailed study material to help you in this journey. The quizzes will be self-directed along with short answer probe questions. To earn the certificate, you need to submit your completed lessons that will be then evaluated for subject knowledge and accuracy.
6. Henry Harvin
Henry Harvin is an online trusted training platform with offline offices in Delhi NCR. Its technical writing course is famous among people who need to develop proficiency in technical writing.
Course duration: 16 hours
Course fee: INR 12,500/-
Platform: online
Course details:
- 16 hours live class+ 24 hours brush-up class
- 50 hours of e-learning access
- 12 monthly brush-up sessions for 1 year
- Job and internship support
- Exclusive projects
Course curriculum:
- Module 1: Introduction to Technical Writing
- Module 2: Documentation process
- Module 3: Technical Writing process
- Module 4: Grammar and editing
- Module 5: Technical writing software tools
- Module 6: Components of a technical document
- Module 7: Technical writing techniques
- Module 8: Technical Document Template
- Module 9: Overview of Formats of Technical documents
- Complementary Module 1: Soft Skills development
- Complementary Module 2: Resume Writing
Tools Covered:
- Screen capture tools
- Authoring tools
- Image editing tools
- Spell check tools
- Presentation and infographics template
- Video editor
- Canva
- Hemingway
- WordPress
- Ginger
The key attribute of this course is the internship program provided and assistance in job placement which other training institutes seldom provide.