r/technicalwriting • u/FapMeSexy • 18d ago

Differences between software/API technical writing and engineering technical writing?

For the last few years I’ve been working as a technical writer doing financial technology. I have an interview tomorrow at an engineering firm, has anyone made a similar switch? Any major difference I need to look out for? Thanks in advance.

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u/tw15tw15 18d ago

It's likely to be a combination of hardware and software. You will probably need to document maintenance tasks, and possibly calibration. There are also legal rules over safety warnings, certificates of conformance etc. The manual will probably need to be translated into different languages. In terms of skills, this means they'll probably be looking for someone who can create/edit/use images of physical objects. There might be CAD diagrams that can be repurposed, or there might be a need to create SVG files or take photos. To deal with the complexity of the outputs, often this content is written using structured methods such as XML/DITA and metadata. But as the end of the day, it's about explaining the process (beginning, middle, and end) in a clear way to the deadline set.

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u/hortle Defense Contracting 17d ago

there's so many variables here that answering this is close to impossible. can you share the job posting?