Technical writing situations in China (part one)
Technical Writing (TW) is a rising carrer in China. The carrer started with the trend of outsourcing design and manufacturing in hi-tech industries. Six years ago when I started this carrer, job posting for technical writer was rare and requirements were low (five years experience entitled a senior). Now in 2010, tech hubs like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu offer most of the tech writing jobs -- quite some are taken by native speakers from US, UK, Scandinavia, Philipines and even Pakistan, but the majority are Chinese with various education background. Editor job postings also emerge recently but are outnumbered by TW.
Although TW job market in China looks prosperous with more US and Scandinavian agents moving in, I have some worries about the TW situation in China and feel these could spoil the market with uncontrolable quality and cost:
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TW profession in China lags behind western countries for several decades;
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TW not generally recognized in China. Experiened writers tend to move to other professions;
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Insufficient technical writing education in academies;
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Missing carrer training in corporates;
- Under-developed professional social network
