How to make next steps in IT marketing/communications

September 29, 2015 1:39 PM

I've been working as a freelance copywriter/white paper writer mainly for IT companies but am looking to make the next step in education or job.

I've been working for several years as a freelance marketing copywriter/white paper writer on technical subjects, mainly for IT or IT related companies. In the past year or so I have been starting to think about moving forward. I like what I do and make enough money (not a lot, but enough to live comfortably and save), but making more money, learning more, having more stability etc. would be nice. Also, currently 27 years old.

Although I have a personal interest in infosec and other IT related topics, I don't have any formal education or training related to this. I am able to write about these topics reasonably well (particularly after interviewing subject matter experts) but would love to feel like I really understood the big picture better as well as the technical details.

I am also interested in keeping my career moving forward, maybe even moving into a position with more responsibility . Perhaps a marketing exec in one of these companies, that's the part I'm a little unsure of.

Also, I like freelancing quite a bit. I want to explore all my options (including 9-5 in-office perm jobs), but it would be a plus if the career path had potential to some day lead to freelance consulting or perhaps my own business. I'm mainly interested in building my skills and resume at this stage though.

So my question is really two parts:

1. What kind of job would make use of my current skills and experience (writing/marketing) but perhaps incorporate more technical knowledge, more money, and/or more responsibility? (maybe in infosec?)

2. What steps should I take to move towards this hypothetical job (training, intermediary jobs, etc)?

Thanks in advance!!!

P.S. Also generally interested in getting better at my current work (sounding more knowledgeable, understanding more concepts)

posted by mosschief to Work & Money (3 answers total)

Best answer: Hi IT Executive here! This is a great question and has a lot of potential paths :)

I for one would highly suggest that you look into IT Business Analyst as the next step. It uses all your skills and wraps it around building a super solid knowledge foundation for another step into InfoSec and what ever more

The IT BA role also exposes you to a lot of people as you are looking at IT investments, projects, infrastructure, processes, etc...

Now the downside - most IT BA work is office based. You can now get some opportunities with work from home, but not everywhere.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 2:49 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

I have to give my usual AskMeFi recommendation of technical writing. It's a freelance-friendly occupation that would definitely mean incorporating more technical knowledge; it can also mean more money and responsibility, but this depends a lot on the employer(s) you end up with. In my experience, small companies tend to offer more opportunities to take on additional responsibilities than big corporations, especially when it comes to gray areas between "the marketing side" and "the technical side". For example, in my current job, I work on technical documentation; but I also code websites, make videos, write announcement emails, edit blog posts, update training materials, etc. Technical writer can be a good role for someone who likes to be a jack-of-all-trades.

It's not likely to lead you to a marketing executive position, but there are management positions out there, and some companies have a "head of corporate communications"-type role that straddles the marketing/documentation line.

There are quite a few technical writing blogs out there, as well as free courses and degree programs. I recommend looking around to get a feel for the jargon (minimalism, DITA, CCMS, single-sourcing, etc.), common topics of discussion (content management, localization, API docs, etc.), and popular tools (FrameMaker, Flare, AuthorIt, etc.). The Society for Technical Communication is also a good place to start looking.
posted by neushoorn at 2:56 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Boty interesting answers I had never considered! Thanks!
posted by mosschief at 8:28 AM on September 30, 2015