This spotlight article features Jason Wu, a university student with a passion for technical writing. He is currently a third-year English major at the University of British Columbia and a volunteer at STC Canada West Coast.
What got you interested in technical communication?
I remember buying a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera in high school and being blown away by the user manual that came with it. Everything was just so clear and concise, unlike the clickbait articles I used to stumble upon back when I was first studying photography. It immediately made me want to become an effective communicator. I have since become interested in creating guides that answer questions efficiently, without any added anecdotes or extraneous writing.
Are you currently working on any interesting documentation projects?
A while ago, I migrated from Microsoft Windows to GNU/Linux, so a personal project of mine has been writing notes on how to configure my chosen distribution for everyday use. My documentation is focused on the applications I use, along with the steps I took to get them working properly.
The original goal of this project was to guide myself in case I needed to reinstall everything manually, but I think there is potential here to help others get started with GNU/Linux, too.
Are there any skills you’ve learned from your English program that you’re eager to transfer into the technical communication world?
Studying English has been helpful in a number of ways. Being able to write on an academic level has given me confidence that I can learn to write on a professional level, too. I’m not a big fan of poetry, so I feel like I can write just about anything after surviving the poetry courses I took.
When I’m writing my essays, I often think, “I can make this sentence more concise, but I’ll keep it as is because it inflates my word count.” Being conscious of my own writing style has helped improve my technical writing skills. Plus, I haven’t missed any deadlines for any of my assignments yet, so I think university has also helped with my time management skills.
Do you have any advice for younger students who are thinking of going into the field of technical communication?
I suggest to anyone who’s remotely interested in technical communication to volunteer with their local STC chapter. You don’t need to have a membership to get involved, and if I had known everyone here was so pleasant and knowledgeable, I would have reached out much sooner.
I also recommend getting into the habit of spacing your writing sessions across multiple days instead of in one sitting since this makes writing and editing more manageable.
What are your plans after school?
I am looking to pursue a career in technical communication. I originally became interested in this field because I wanted to write user manuals for consumer electronics, but the STC has shown me that there are plenty of other interesting things you can do as a technical writer besides writing manuals. I’m sure I’ll be happy with whatever I can get. I’m eager to learn!
What do you like to do outside school? Any hobbies or pastimes?
I like to watch movies. Recently, I got into the habit of timing what I watch with current events. Back in March last year during the beginning of the global pandemic, I binge-watched a couple of Korean zombie movies, which definitely made the entire experience more enjoyable.
Ulysses Aganon is an English and Professional Writing student and an aspiring technical writer. He has worked as a technical writing intern for Ericsson Telecommunications Ltd. and is currently an intern for STC Canada West Coast. He lives in Mississauga, Ontario.