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Technical writing consultant vs contributing writer

The differences between technical writing consultants 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 technical writing consultant and a contributing writer. Additionally, a technical writing consultant has an average salary of $82,383, which is higher than the $51,372 average annual salary of a contributing writer.

The top three skills for a technical writing consultant include framemaker, R and user manuals. The most important skills for a contributing writer are lifestyle, web content, and SEO.

Technical writing consultant vs contributing writer overview

Technical Writing ConsultantContributing Writer
Yearly salary$82,383$51,372
Hourly rate$39.61$24.70
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs90,10010,292
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Average age4646
Years of experience22

Technical writing consultant vs contributing writer salary

Technical writing consultants and contributing writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Technical Writing ConsultantContributing Writer
Average salary$82,383$51,372
Salary rangeBetween $59,000 And $114,000Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between technical writing consultant and contributing writer education

There are a few differences between a technical writing consultant and a contributing writer in terms of educational background:

Technical Writing ConsultantContributing Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common majorEnglishJournalism
Most common collegeUniversity of HoustonMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Technical writing consultant vs contributing writer demographics

Here are the differences between technical writing consultants' and contributing writers' demographics:

Technical Writing ConsultantContributing Writer
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 47.9% Female, 52.1%Male, 44.6% Female, 55.4%
Race ratioBlack 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%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 technical writing consultant and contributing writer duties and responsibilities

Technical writing consultant example responsibilities.

  • Identify and initiate wholesale computer upgrade to accommodate new CMS while allocating and managing staff resources devote to developing the software.
  • Perform QA testing of the GUI, returning valuable feedback to the design team via the TestTrack defect tracking system.
  • Create accompanying diagrams using Visio.
  • Develop and design business processes utilizing Visio and other tools.
  • Define data interchange requirements, and develop API references and data management requirements in support of telecommunication company acquisition and mergers.
  • Develop sophisticated PowerPoint presentations for cross-departmental meetings.
  • 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.

Technical writing consultant vs contributing writer skills

Common technical writing consultant skills
  • FrameMaker, 8%
  • R, 7%
  • User Manuals, 7%
  • Technical Documentation, 6%
  • Web Site, 5%
  • XML, 5%
Common contributing writer skills
  • Lifestyle, 13%
  • Web Content, 7%
  • SEO, 6%
  • Feature Stories, 6%
  • Conduct Interviews, 5%
  • Blog Posts, 5%

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