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