Wage watchers: how much does a technical copywriter earn?

Technical copywriter Hilde Van Goethem, from Edegem, Antwerp province talks about what she earns and how she spends it

What do you do for a living?

I work for Vision, a creative and dynamic team active in the fields of communication, e-learning and technical documentation. I am currently seconded, along with several colleagues, to a client for several months. I work as a senior technical writer,  working on user manuals and technical documentation for the production of pharmaceutical products. The documents that we prepare, describe the actions that a person needs to do in order to perform a certain task correctly. Before we can get to our specific job, other colleagues will have done a lot of preparatory work. Each document we write is about one task and aimed at one specific employee profile.

Do you enjoy your work?

Enormously. Each new project offers a fresh challenge, in which you have to absorb a lot of information in a very short time and then convert it into 'plain language'. It is always exciting again. I really love it when at the end of the process everything ‘clicks’ and all employees are able to retrieve exactly the information they are looking for in order to perform their work. This job also brings you into contact with fascinating people who share their knowledge and skills with you. Sometimes someone will tell you that, thanks to one of your documents, they understand how to perform a task better than before... and that, to me, really is the icing on the cake!

Are there opportunities for growth?

You do absorb a lot of knowledge about a wide range business sectors. Some technical writers become so intimately familiar with the matter about which they write that they ultimately become experts themselves!  Alternatively, as a technical writer you can become involved in tasks other  than writing documents, such as communication, training or quality control.

How many hours do you work per week?

If I’m being seconded to a client I do the client’s normal hours, which is 40 hours a week. This is two hours a week more than my 38-hours-a- week contract, which translates into 12 days a year which I can take as holidays. The commute is good: 20 minutes outside rush hour, 30 to 40 minutes otherwise. In addition to statutory holidays, I am entitled to 20 days leave per year.

What does the biggest chunk of your salary go toward?

Rent.

How do you deal with the crisis?

Until last year I was self-employed. The economic crisis had a major impact on my income. The average rates in the service industry did not evolve as much as the growing cost of living. Assignments are put 'on hold' by companies for budgetary reasons ... and eventually you pay the price for those decisions. Therefore last year I switched to a job in which I can count on a fixed income (around €2,000 after tax) and all associated social benefits: meal tickets, eco-cheques, travel  expenses, hospital insurance and a laptop.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

I would invest the money in things that improve the quality of life of my teenage son, myself and all the people who are dear to me.

(em)