Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

ICT documentation manager to technical communicator

An ICT documentation manager already meets 16% of what the technical communicator role asks for. The move turns on 20 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From ICT documentation manager
16 % overlap
Distant match
To technical communicator
7 You already bring
20 Still to learn
46 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance A rebuild

84.3/ 100

1 How much of what a technical communicator is expected to do is already part of an ICT documentation manager’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the technical communicator role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A technical communicator role treats 4 of its required skills as things an ICT documentation manager already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • content development processes
  • identify ICT user needs
  • manage content metadata
  • manage information sources

What stands in the way is 20 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 7 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A technical communicator role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an ICT documentation manager background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held ICT help platforms information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held manage information sources information skills
  • already held manage content metadata information skills
  • already held manage content development projects management skills
  • already held content development processes arts and humanities
  • already held manage localisation communication, collaboration and creativity

All 7 carried skills, including the 4 the technical communicator role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 39 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 working with computers 4 required, 8 supplementary
  • still to learn develop ICT safety information required
  • still to learn integrate content into output media required
  • still to learn apply tools for content development required
  • still to learn conduct content quality assurance required
  • optional, not held provide multimedia content optional
  • optional, not held use markup languages optional
  • optional, not held integrate and re-elaborate digital content optional
  • optional, not held manage digital documents optional
  • optional, not held use content management system software optional
  • optional, not held use presentation software optional
  • optional, not held use word processing software optional
  • optional, not held utilise content types optional
02 information skills 4 required
  • still to learn interpret technical texts required
  • still to learn compile content required
  • still to learn gather technical information required
  • still to learn structure information required
03 communication, collaboration and creativity 3 required, 4 supplementary
  • still to learn apply ICT terminology required
  • still to learn develop documentation in accordance with legal requirements required
  • still to learn provide written content required
  • optional, not held create script for artistic production optional
  • optional, not held design graphics optional
  • optional, not held identify technological needs optional
  • optional, not held translate requirements into visual design optional
04 arts and humanities 3 required
  • still to learn publishing strategy required
  • still to learn visual presentation techniques required
  • still to learn multimedia systems required
05 information and communication technologies (icts) 2 required, 6 supplementary
  • still to learn ICT software specifications required
  • still to learn knowledge base required
  • optional, not held CSS optional
  • optional, not held JSSS optional
  • optional, not held LESS optional
  • optional, not held Sass optional
  • optional, not held application usability optional
  • optional, not held style sheet languages optional
06 social sciences, journalism and information 2 required
  • still to learn documentation types required
  • still to learn cognitive psychology required

3 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a technical communicator role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 7 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held content development processes knowledge
  • already held identify ICT user needs skill
  • already held manage content metadata skill
  • already held manage information sources skill
  • already held ICT help platforms knowledge
  • already held manage content development projects skill
  • already held manage localisation skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 management skills 1 required
  • still to learn provide technical documentation required
08 services 1 required
  • still to learn product usage risks analysis required
09 assisting and caring 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held provide online help optional
19 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held provide online help optional
  • optional, not held CSS optional
  • optional, not held JSSS optional
  • optional, not held LESS optional
  • optional, not held Sass optional
  • optional, not held application usability optional
  • optional, not held create script for artistic production optional
  • optional, not held provide multimedia content optional
  • optional, not held use markup languages optional
  • optional, not held design graphics optional
  • optional, not held identify technological needs optional
  • optional, not held integrate and re-elaborate digital content optional
  • optional, not held manage digital documents optional
  • optional, not held style sheet languages optional
  • optional, not held translate requirements into visual design optional
  • optional, not held use content management system software optional
  • optional, not held use presentation software optional
  • optional, not held use word processing software optional
  • optional, not held utilise content types optional
30 held skills the technical communicator role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role ICT project management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role apply change management skill
  • not needed by the target role apply organisational techniques skill
  • not needed by the target role business processes knowledge
  • not needed by the target role crowdsourcing strategy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role define technology strategy skill
  • not needed by the target role develop information standards skill
  • not needed by the target role develop media strategy skill
  • not needed by the target role disseminate internal communications skill
  • not needed by the target role document management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ensure compliance with legal requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role identify legal requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role identify market requirements for ICT documentation skill
  • not needed by the target role industrial software knowledge
  • not needed by the target role insourcing strategy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role legal requirements of ICT products knowledge
  • not needed by the target role maintain relationship with suppliers skill
  • not needed by the target role manage budgets skill
  • not needed by the target role manage human resources skill
  • not needed by the target role monitor technology trends skill
  • not needed by the target role outsourcing strategy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role perform resource planning skill
  • not needed by the target role plan digital marketing skill
  • not needed by the target role provide guidelines for content development skill
  • not needed by the target role quality assurance methodologies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role set quality assurance objectives skill
  • not needed by the target role supplier management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role systems development life-cycle knowledge
  • not needed by the target role track key performance indicators skill
  • not needed by the target role usability engineering knowledge
14 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn ICT software specifications required
  • still to learn documentation types required
  • still to learn publishing strategy required
  • still to learn visual presentation techniques required
  • still to learn cognitive psychology required
  • still to learn knowledge base required
  • still to learn multimedia systems required
  • still to learn product usage risks analysis required
  • optional, not held CSS optional
  • optional, not held JSSS optional
  • optional, not held LESS optional
  • optional, not held Sass optional
  • optional, not held application usability optional
  • optional, not held style sheet languages optional
Index

Other moves recorded from ICT documentation manager

Full index of moves from ICT documentation manager

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an ICT documentation manager become a technical communicator?

Yes, and it is a career change move. An ICT documentation manager already covers 16% of what a technical communicator is expected to do: 7 skills carry over, 4 of which the technical communicator role treats as required.

What skills does an ICT documentation manager need to become a technical communicator?

20 required skills are missing, plus 19 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by working with computers. The single most important is develop ICT safety information.

How hard is the move from ICT documentation manager to technical communicator?

Its learning distance is 84.3 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.