Thursday, August 16, 2012

There are a number of jobs within IT where writing ability is greatly valued. I'll begin by listing the job types, then give you couple of examples, and end with a short description of each job. These jobs are: Social Media Consultant, Web Designer, Documentation Writer, Training Materials Development, and Business Analyst.

I have a friend with a strong writing background and a degree in marketing. He also liked technology and wanted to move toward a position within IT. He jokingly insists that the social media industry was created specifically to give him this opportunity. He invested some time into learning the ins-and-outs of various business oriented social media tools, such as Twitter, HootSuite, WordPress, and a few other products. Then, he found a job within an IT group helping the marketing department implement the company's social media/marketing program. He is now the Manager of Social Media Systems within the IT organization and is dotted line to the VP of marketing.

As a second example, I once had a great Business Analyst working for me. She whet to school for journalism but also had a fascination for all things technical. Because of her journalism background, she had an incredible ability to interview business users and properly document their conversations. As a result, she was able to draft great business requirements documents.

As promised above, here are short descriptions of the various IT positions listed above:

Social Media Consultant: Works specifically on social media and active listening type software/systems

Web Designer and copy writer: Works on the design, structure, and textual content on company websites

Documentation Writer: Writes internal documentation on systems, processes, and other IT related activities.

Training Materials Developer: Writes training material to be used as a part of rolling out new software applications

Business Analyst: Works with users to define the business requirements for IT related projects including software purchase, new software development, and existing software enhancements.

This blog is based on a column I wrote last year, as part of my weekly blog in IT World. For my most recent IT World blogs, go to http://www.itworld.com/blogs/eric-bloom

Until next time, work hard, work smart, and continue to grow.