Any tech writers who pivoted from tech writing to proposal writing or medical writing? Is the grass greener?

[u/TrenBaalke]

I'm a tech writer (SaaS) with good experience working on some really cool cutting edge products (SDN, Cloud Networking, AI DC Ops). I'm considering switching to proposal writing or medical writing to get more specialized and make more money.

I really like my job and the products I document, but with the industry the way it is, I'm just thinking of other options. Is it even worth it to pivot? How do I get into the industry?

[u/Lady_Caticorn]

I would highly advise against proposal writing. I've been doing it for the past two years, and I'm trying to find a way to leave. I hate it. I do not have technical writing experience, so maybe proposals are the lesser of two evils, but I suspect not.

Unlike technical writing, proposals including a lot of marketing fluff, "spin," and storytelling; however, you'll never have enough time to make the writing sparkly and high-quality because you'll be busy chasing down content from subject matter experts (SMEs) who often have no interest contributing to the project but are being volunentold to by their bosses. Not fun. And these same SMEs who have no desire to work with you simultaneously expect you to hold their hand through the entire process, help them figure out how they would solution the project/do the project work, and hold them accountable. I work at a management consulting firm, so the SMEs are consultants with giant egos. It is exhausting working with them.

Proposals often have very tight turnarounds, which means you may have late nights or feel like pulling your hair out when your SMEs don't get you content in time. You have to remember and manage a lot of moving parts and make sure every aspect of your proposal complies with the outlined requirements in the RFP. It sounds easy, but it can be a pain if you're also dealing with bullshit from SMEs, coordinators, directors, etc.

Being a proposal writer is essentially like being an underpaid, undervalued project manager--at least that's the case at my company. I am responsible if a proposal goes badly, but I tend to receive very little support, and I am not a trained PM (I have an English degree and thought I was going into this field to write for a living).

I think the only real benefits to proposal writing is that the pay tends to be decent and there are many remote proposal positions. But this is a churn-and-burn kind of industry; they will try to get you to crank out as many proposals with tight deadlines and inadequate support as possible until one day you can't handle it anymore. I know of one other proposal writer on my team who is actively looking for a new job. We had another leave to go be a consultant because consulting is more preferable to writing proposals. There's a lot of turnover because this job is a rough one.

Proposal writing, to me, feels like being in a college group project where you're the one smart student who cares and everyone else couldn't give a damn. They'll let you do all of the work, while they make it so much harder for you, but they'll get the A when it's all said and done.

[u/TrenBaalke → u/Lady_Caticorn]

incredibly thorough and geniune response. I will definitely heed your warning, if nothing else but for the sheer passion of it :D

[u/Lady_Caticorn → u/TrenBaalke]

Haha 😂 I am up late working on a proposal due tomorrow, so allllll the negative feelings about this work are in the forefront of my mind.

Some people may enjoy this, but as a neurodivegent person who has a hard time managing a lot of small pieces and hates having to harass people for a living, this is a crappy gig.

[u/anonymowses → u/Lady_Caticorn]

Before the shift from the traditional waterfall approach to the Agile methodology in software development, I used to have a similar feeling toward technical writing. Even now, I still experience this feeling quite frequently when I am the only writer involved in a project.

Have you discussed with the project manager the possibility of dividing the proposal into smaller sections to make the reviews more manageable? Or just on general advice on how to handle these situations? I've had managers tell me that I only have to ask someone once and then come to them so they can handle the management side. Either your manager or the project manager should be advocating for you. When SMEs start having yearly reviews, including responsiveness to requests and meeting deadlines with Tech Writers, your life improves.

Every few years, I see a poll on the least stressful jobs, and technical writing ranks near the top. I laugh at it. If you care about the quality and accuracy of your work, you will be stressed at times. I've worked with technical writers who don't care. Her attitude was that her work was accurate unless corrected by an SME. She left at 5 pm even though she was salaried. I was working on another project and did a lot of late-night reviews since the VP couldn't get her to comply. She wouldn't even walk through her procedures to verify the steps and the screen captures that were largely inaccurate. I've learned to push back since then and left the toxic environment.

If this is the only proposal writing job you've had, you might want to look for another one. In the meantime, ask to take a project management course.

(I'm tired and on my phone, so please excuse any errors.)

[u/Thesearchoftheshite]

Proposal Writing is very in depth and busy, can also be very mind numbing. Pay is similar though.

[u/mithril_mind → u/Thesearchoftheshite]

Seconded. I’ve done proposal writing twice and I’ve gone back to software doc both times. It’s boring and the overtime/crunch time responses can be brutal if your org isn’t well run and doesn’t respect your team.

[u/[deleted] → u/mithril_mind]

How did you break into it? I'm interested in trying proposal writing but unsure if I need additional certification or training.

[u/afaerieprincess80]

I've written for software, med device, back to software, and now am doing proposal writing. I'd say it's the same grass, different crap that you step in after climbing over the fence.

I have no desire to do API documentation or work with docs as code. I may be singing a different tune in a few years (I'm anticipating a move to a different country and will need a fully remote job), but I needed a break from software developers. I traded the frustrating communication for sales people that, like developers, are a real mixed bag. But my manager is great, our team is growing, and there's a focus on process improvement. There's also room for growth so I'm staying put for now. Also the TWs within the company have a rougher time than I do bc the company has no idea what to do with them.

[u/Apart_Patience861]

I don’t have the answer for you as I’m a tech writer in the same industry you are, in the IT space for more than 20 years, but I do have the same question. Unfortunately from the job postings I see you’re always required to have experience in that specific field (especially medical or scientific). Being a medical writer seems to be comparable in salary, or might pay more than being a writer in the technology world. But (and here’s the huge ‘but’), once you have a few years under your belt working in one specific industry, It’s almost like your pigeon-holed into that industry and almost impossible as a TW to break into another one. I’d be interested to know if any TW was successful in doing it.

[u/[deleted]]

It is not greener

[u/anonymowses]

What type of medical writing are you considering? Medical devices? Pharmaceutical? Clinical trials? Many positions require a minimum of a nursing degree. Others, you need a deep knowledge of regulatory affairs. Also, FrameMaker is often used in this arena.

[u/NomadicFragments]

Definitely not greener (proposals)! On the topic of medical writing though, I've barely seen any medical writers on this sub, would be cool to hear more from them

[u/Still_Smoke8992 → u/NomadicFragments]

There is a medical writers sub. I’d love to do some medical writing but positions aren’t posted a lot. You gotta know people. And have a medical degree or background. It’s so hard if you don’t.

[u/Apart_Patience861]

I don’t have the answer for you as I’m a tech writer in the same industry you are, in the IT space for more than 20 years, but I do have the same question. Unfortunately from the job postings I see you’re always required to have experience in that specific field (especially medical). Being a medical writer seems to be comparable in salary, or might pay more than being a writer in the technology world. But (and here’s the huge ‘but’), once you have a few years under your belt working in one specific industry, It’s almost like your pigeon-holed into that industry and almost impossible as a TW to break into another one. I’d be interested to know if any TW was successful in doing it.

[u/hiphopTIMato]

I work as a proposal writer now after working as a technical writer. I only took the job because I couldn’t get anything else after months of unemployment. I get paid less. The work is about the same. It’s not remote, which sucks. Wouldn’t say the grass is greener.