Over the years, people have asked me about whether their background is suitable for pursuing a career in Technical Communications. They mostly worry about the fact that they don’t possess any formal technical education - many have had little exposure to technical subjects. Typically, many of these people have degrees in English Literature, Social Sciences, Philosophy, Art, Music, History, and Education. They all have the same question, “can I do it?”
 
Added to their insecurity is the “wisdom” of friends, personnel managers, and even other technical writers who counsel that “only experienced people are considered for jobs today. And besides, without a technical background it’s going to be very hard to get a job in this field.”
 
YEDA has been fighting this perception for over 12 years and, with great success, we’ve succeeded in proving that those with no technical background and no previous experience can, with our training, enter the field of technical communications and succeed. Here are some cases that come to mind:
 
Six children, a great homemaker, but no technical background...
A woman from the Shomron, the mother of six children, no technical background, and virtually no work experience outside of homemaking, timidly asked whether she could enroll in the course. Confident that she possessed the writing ability needed for technical writing, I encouraged her to enroll. Throughout the course her main problem was lack of confidence - otherwise, she was able to master the material and did well on her writing assignments.
 
Shortly after leaving the course she was hired as a technical writer in a leading hi-tech company - today, some 10 years later, she is a highly experienced technical writer at the top of her field.
 
A retired policeman decides to join Israel’s hi-tech revolution...
Several years ago a retired policeman decided that age 55 was too young to retire. He wanted to pursue some kind of career where he could use his mind, be creative, and keep up with a rapidly changing world. So, he enrolled in YEDA’s technical writing course.
 
Despite his age, he was hired as a technical writer at a large international company - today, over five years later, he is one of the company’s most respected writers.
 
A recent graduate with a degree in Art finds a position documenting electronic equipment...
Young, fluent in English and Hungarian, with a background in art and design, this student decided that she wanted a career change. Though she lacked technical knowledge, her writing showed itself to be logical, consistent, and precise. Her course work was outstanding.
 
Shortly after graduating she was hired as a technical writer by an electronics firm - her training at YEDA was a major factor in the company’s decision to hire her.
 
A school teacher decides it’s time for a change...
A woman whose entire professional life was spent as a teacher decided it was time for a change. With no technical background and with grave reservations she enrolled in YEDA’s course.
She has now worked over 6 years as a technical writer in one of Israel’s most prestigious hi-tech companies.
 
A secretary decides that she wants more challenging work - and finds herself documenting a leading chip manufacturer’s next generation microprocessor...
This story has actually happened twice - two separate companies, both leaders in microprocessor design and manufacture, sent a secretary with no technical background to study technical writing at YEDA so that they could give a hand to the documentation effort.
 
After graduating, one secretary wrote the programmer’s reference manual for one of the world’s most well known CPUs; the other secretary became a key writer in her company. Today, both are highly respected technical writers; one of them manages a technical writing department.

So, what’s the secret?
How does YEDA do it? How do we take people with no technical background, sometimes with no professional training at all, and turn out a well-trained, effective writer who can find a job in the field within weeks of graduating?

The answer is a combination of specialized teaching methods, and a deep belief that people who know how to communicate can become great assets to the hi-tech industry. It is our firm belief that good verbal communication enhances hi-tech - from marketing to effective use of a product, communication is a key element in the success of any hi-tech endeavor. And we believe that the people best suited for communicating are the ones whose professions or education involved the use of communication skills: teachers, journalists, secretaries, literature majors, social workers - anyone who has learned to use language effectively as a major tool in their career.
 
Because we strongly believe that our graduates have what it takes to make significant contributions to the field of technical communications, we make every effort to make sure that they receive the kind of very thorough, personalized training that ensures success. Our focus is not on just giving over the material - it is on creating an outstanding technical communicator, one who can compete successfully with even the most experienced writers. Ultimately, we believe that the writer’s own native talents and abilities can be developed to give him or her the skills and assets needed to enter the job market without prior experience. And, for the last 12 years,