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Contractor-senior technical writer vs contributing writer

The differences between contractor-senior technical writers and contributing writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a contractor-senior technical writer and a contributing writer. Additionally, a contractor-senior technical writer has an average salary of $65,744, which is higher than the $51,372 average annual salary of a contributing writer.

The top three skills for a contractor-senior technical writer include maintenance procedures, technical manuals and technical documentation. The most important skills for a contributing writer are lifestyle, web content, and SEO.

Contractor-senior technical writer vs contributing writer overview

Contractor-Senior Technical WriterContributing Writer
Yearly salary$65,744$51,372
Hourly rate$31.61$24.70
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs86,24410,292
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Average age4646
Years of experience22

Contractor-senior technical writer vs contributing writer salary

Contractor-senior technical writers and contributing writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Contractor-Senior Technical WriterContributing Writer
Average salary$65,744$51,372
Salary rangeBetween $48,000 And $88,000Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between contractor-senior technical writer and contributing writer education

There are a few differences between a contractor-senior technical writer and a contributing writer in terms of educational background:

Contractor-Senior Technical WriterContributing Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common majorEnglishJournalism
Most common collegeUniversity of HoustonMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Contractor-senior technical writer vs contributing writer demographics

Here are the differences between contractor-senior technical writers' and contributing writers' demographics:

Contractor-Senior Technical WriterContributing Writer
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 51.3% Female, 48.7%Male, 44.6% Female, 55.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 8.6% White, 72.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between contractor-senior technical writer and contributing writer duties and responsibilities

Contractor-senior technical writer example responsibilities.

  • Manage writing projects, including HTML documentation conversions.
  • Help company achieve ISO registration by determining best practices, writing ISO compliant manufacturing instructions and teaching best manufacturing processes.
  • Develop API documentation for CTI interface.
  • Convert legacy PageMaker guide into PDF format.
  • Provide structured FrameMaker XML technical support as required for BAE product support programs.
  • Create, with SMEs and VP-level personnel, online help for custom-developed video conference software.
  • Show more

Contributing writer example responsibilities.

  • Collaborate with overseas team and manage documents using SharePoint to conceptualize and generate new marketing content.
  • Pitch, write and photograph audience-aligned content, which are centered on the European-American luxury lifestyle in the greater Chicago area
  • Create SharePoint site for marketing and communications that include project tracking, document governance and collaboration space.

Contractor-senior technical writer vs contributing writer skills

Common contractor-senior technical writer skills
  • Maintenance Procedures, 15%
  • Technical Manuals, 8%
  • Technical Documentation, 4%
  • SharePoint, 4%
  • API, 4%
  • Visio, 4%
Common contributing writer skills
  • Lifestyle, 13%
  • Web Content, 7%
  • SEO, 6%
  • Feature Stories, 6%
  • Conduct Interviews, 5%
  • Blog Posts, 5%

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