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Scientific technical writer vs technical writer

The differences between scientific technical writers and technical 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 scientific technical writer and a technical writer. Additionally, a scientific technical writer has an average salary of $78,877, which is higher than the $65,329 average annual salary of a technical writer.

The top three skills for a scientific technical writer include sops, subject matter experts and FDA. The most important skills for a technical writer are technical documentation, subject matter experts, and powerpoint.

Scientific technical writer vs technical writer overview

Scientific Technical WriterTechnical Writer
Yearly salary$78,877$65,329
Hourly rate$37.92$31.41
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs79,68075,090
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age4646
Years of experience22

Scientific technical writer vs technical writer salary

Scientific technical writers and technical writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Scientific Technical WriterTechnical Writer
Average salary$78,877$65,329
Salary rangeBetween $57,000 And $109,000Between $48,000 And $87,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Meta
Best paying industry-Finance

Differences between scientific technical writer and technical writer education

There are a few differences between a scientific technical writer and a technical writer in terms of educational background:

Scientific Technical WriterTechnical Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorBiologyEnglish
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Houston

Scientific technical writer vs technical writer demographics

Here are the differences between scientific technical writers' and technical writers' demographics:

Scientific Technical WriterTechnical Writer
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 35.4% Female, 64.6%Male, 49.7% Female, 50.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 8.8% White, 71.2% 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 scientific technical writer and technical writer duties and responsibilities

Scientific technical writer example responsibilities.

  • Help company achieve ISO registration by determining best practices, writing ISO compliant manufacturing instructions and teaching best manufacturing processes.
  • Maintain contacts within the FDA and EPA to stay abreast of the latest regulatory actions.
  • Develop sophisticated PowerPoint presentations for cross-departmental meetings.
  • Develop sophisticated PowerPoint presentations for cross-departmental meetings.

Technical writer example responsibilities.

  • Analyze the requirements of the RFP to understand the customer s solution needs and to identify potential discriminators for competitive advantage.
  • Manage consulting projects including UNIX installation and maintenance on various engineering workstation platforms.
  • Create and manage print and online documentation for Linux and web-base security software.
  • Manage security program for DoD classify magnetic media, classify documents and physical security systems.
  • Develop software requirements documents for proprietary medical software device; manage documents through SDLC in fda-regulate environment.
  • Help company achieve ISO registration by determining best practices, writing ISO compliant manufacturing instructions and teaching best manufacturing processes.
  • Show more

Scientific technical writer vs technical writer skills

Common scientific technical writer skills
  • Sops, 26%
  • Subject Matter Experts, 20%
  • FDA, 14%
  • Technical Reports, 9%
  • ISO, 6%
  • Adobe Acrobat, 6%
Common technical writer skills
  • Technical Documentation, 9%
  • Subject Matter Experts, 8%
  • PowerPoint, 6%
  • Visio, 4%
  • SharePoint, 4%
  • Test Procedures, 4%

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