Post on 10-Mar-2020
Susanne LohmüllerUniversity Relations and Country Groups tekom
Part I
About tekom
Who is tekom?
www.tekom.de
Europe‘s largest association for technical communication and information development
History of tekom
www.tekom.de
tekom was founded in 1978 in StuttgartWhy Stuttgart ?
Members of tekom
www.tekom.de
• Technical writers• Technical illustrators• Technical translators• Localizers• Information developers• Multimedia specialists• Webdesigner
7,500 members(effective 2012-01-01)
17 Regional Groups
www.tekom.de
Associations with European Partners
www.tekom.de
Switzerland
Italy
Austria
What are tekom‘s main activities?
Public Relations
Training
Surveys& Studies
Education
Services
Publications
www.tekom.de
Training
www.tekom.deEvents organizedby the regional and country groups
Trainings
Conferences
Professional journal
Online magazine
Surveys & Studies
www.tekom.de
Spring survey of key figures for technical communication (annual)
Salary Survey(every three years)
Studies: Metrics (2008) Information Management (2006) Content Management Systems (2008) Terminology Management (2010)
Services
www.tekom.de
tekom - tcworld.infoArticles on translation, localization, technicalcommunication and many more related topics
tekom - WebPortal• Up-to-date information• Technical articles• Job market• Databases• Advice on standards
Publications
www.tekom.de
Seriestekom – book series
tekom – academic series
Brochures• Guidelines „operating instructions“• Guidelines „safety messages“• DITA-Guidelines
Professional journals“ technische kommunikation““ tcworld“ magazine
Public Relations
www.tekom.de
Testing of the quality of technical documentation that is handed in.
Annual documentation award„tekom-Dokupreis"
Public Relations
www.tekom.de
Open to all students submitting innovative ideas on technicalcommunication in German language.Online voting by tekom members (March 1-26, 2012)!
Innovation award for students„tekom-intro"
intro Jury 2012 made a preliminary selection
Free student membership
www.tekom.de
• Free access to professional articles on the tekom website• Free subscription to tekom‘s professional journal
„technische kommunikation“ (German) or „tcworld magazine“ (English)
• Special offers for the tekom Annual Conference• Reduced entrance fee• 1 day conference assistance, 2 days free entrance• Trade fair voucher
• Free events in Belgium• Reduced prices for tekom publications
Part II
About the Profession of aTechnical Communicator
Definition for the profession
www.tekom.de
Persons working in the field of technical communication in Germany:
More than 83,000 persons, of whom • over 72,000 work in the industry and the software development,
and• almost 11,000 in the field of TC services.
tekom-survey for the industry key figures 2010
Workplace
www.tekom.de
In the industry• as individual writers• in editorial teams • in departments for technical documentation• as a staff member in other departments such as
• Development• Service• Marketing• Training (eLearning)
Workplace
www.tekom.de
In the service sector• at a service provider
• in-house with service provider• in-house with customer• contract staff (temporary)
• owner of a service provider• freelancer
Required skills and competencies
www.tekom.de
Professional qualifications greatly required by employers • Organization, standardization, XML and authoring systems (77 %)
• Terminology (64 %)
• Professional skills in the national language (56 %)
• Legal and normative requirements for TD (49 %)
• Quality management in TD (49 %)
• Creation of multilingual documentation and localization (42 %)
tekom-survey for the industry key figures 2010
Required skills and competencies
www.tekom.de
Top 5 key skills required by employers • Technical understanding (88 %)
• Ability to work in a team (71 %)
• Planning and organizational skills (51 %)
• Time management skills (50 %)
• Spelling style and grammar (44 %)
tekom-survey for the industry key figures 2010
Required skills and competencies
www.tekom.de
Top 5 factors considered when hiring TCs• Technical background (83 %)
• Versatility of the qualification (67 %)
• Working experience (62 %)
• Knowledge of foreign languages (52 %)
• Formal education / training in Technical Communication (51 %)
tekom-survey for the industry key figures 2010
Starting salary
www.tekom.de
tekom salary survey 2009
Company size Average monthly income ofyoung professionals withoutextras in EURO
< 50 employees 2,860
50 – 500 employees 3,000
> 500 employees 3,260
Overall average 3,070
Career prospects for TC graduates
www.tekom.de
Almost half of the graduates found a job placement after only 5 application. In total, 73% of the applicant found a job at the latest after 15 applications. Majority of young TC professionals state that job search was (very) easy.
2008-2011: Each year more than 3,000 job offers for TCs. In 2011, there were almost 3,700 jobs available for TCs in Germany.
Applicants with a formal TC education have excellent chances!
tekom-study 2006 and survey for the industry key figures 2010/2011
www.tekom.detekom - Gesellschaft für technische Kommunikation e.V.Rotebühlstr. 6470178 StuttgartGermany
Fon +49 / 711 / 65704 - 0Fax +49 / 711 / 65704 – 99info@tekom.de
Further Information