Building A Technical Writing Portfolio, How Easy Is It? Writerstable

What is a technical writing portfolio? What does it look like? How to build a great technical writing portfolio? Let’s answer these questions and more.

While this article focuses primarily on technical writers, the methods described here can still be applied if you are an instructional designer, content writer, or content creator.

What is a technical writing portfolio?

A technical writing portfolio is a collection of your technical writing work. Whether you are an experienced technical writer or seeking entry into the technical writing field, a portfolio is a great way to showcase your skills as a technical writer. Consider it a calling card. Be it prospective clients (for freelance projects), or organizations you are interviewing at, they will all request to view samples of your work.

What does a technical writing portfolio look like?

A technical writing portfolio can take the shape of a website, a blog, a downloadable PDF, or even a compressed file (not so creatively) titled My_Technical_Writing_Portfolio.zip.

One major obstacle in building a technical writing portfolio

Oftentimes, it is a challenge to show samples of your work because you might be bound by confidentiality agreements. These confidentiality agreements prohibit you from sharing the documentation you created, outside the organization. This becomes a pain especially because prospective clients and organizations request to see samples of your work before they can even consider shortlisting you for a project or an open position.

How then will you show off that excellent information architecture? Those high-resolution, optically similar, screenshots? Those extensive glossary entries?

How?!

Here’s how

What if I told you there are two rather simple methods to build your technical writing portfolio? Keep in mind that both methods require you to work voluntarily (and probably for free):

Document open-source projects.
Document the products you use.

The first method is more suitable for experienced technical writers. You can use this method even if you are new to technical writing, but it can get overwhelming if it is a complicated project.

Method 1: Build a portfolio by documenting open-source projects

Creating documentation for an open-source project allows you to join and build a network of technical writers and give back to the development community.

Open-source projects are publicly available projects where team members voluntarily contribute their skills and time. The goal is to create a free product for everyone to use, with or without further modifications.

There are several open-source projects that need capable technical writers. Get in touch with the project stakeholders and volunteer your services. I am sure they would love to have you on board.

I reiterate, that this method is not advised for those seeking entry into technical writing or relatively fresh in the field. I say this because there’s usually very little hand-holding and you are expected to hit the ground running.

My recommended open-source projects

Check out Open Source for open-source projects that are currently available. You can also check out Ubuntu Documentation, Gnome Documentation, and LibreOffice Docs for more such projects. This Reddit post has several open-source projects classified by complexity that you can check out.

Method 2: Build a portfolio by documenting the products you use

Recommended for beginners and entry-level technical writers, this is perhaps the fastest and best method for building a portfolio as it not only gives you a portfolio you could use but also helps you hone your technical writing skills. I recommend this method for entry-level technical writers because it gives you the freedom to explore various styles of documentation, and also enables you to build much-needed confidence in your technical writing skills.

The following procedure guides you in documenting the products you use:

Pick a software, application, or product that you use regularly.
Look at the existing official documentation available for users.
Evaluate the documentation based on usability (structure), readability, and quality. Since you are already using the product, you will be able to look at the documentation objectively and evaluate it properly.
Based on your evaluation, create a version of the documents yourself. Create different document types to test your knowledge and hone your skills. User guide, Troubleshooting guide, and Glossary are my recommended document types.
Review your work and rewrite the content to improve quality and make the document concise. It can get laborious, but your efforts will bear fruit. Trust me.
Publish your work in a blog. Blogger and WordPress allow you to create free blogs, among others. If you are reluctant to post them publicly, place PDF versions in a file hosting site such as Google Drive or One Drive.
Add links to the portfolio in your LinkedIn, Fiverr, Upwork, or Freelancer profiles.
Rinse and repeat for at least 10 different applications, products, and software.

Pro tip: Ensure that you use a consistent style by following a style guide of your choosing.

Benefits of the second method

Here are a few benefits of building a technical writing portfolio by documenting the products you use:

Minimal research

Since it’s a product you use already, you will need to spend relatively less time researching the product. You will already know the product’s nuances, bottlenecks, and features. So, the time you would otherwise spend on researching these aspects will be considerably reduced. Thereby leaving you free to focus on creating the content.

Low dependency on SMEs

Extracting information from subject matter experts (SME) is perhaps the biggest challenge a technical writer faces. As the product user, you are the SME! So that eliminates a major challenge and helps you complete the documentation quickly.

3-in-1 advantage

This is the best benefit of this method. You will accomplish the following simultaneously:

Create the documentation.
Hone your technical writing and reviewing skills.
Build confidence in your technical writing skills.

By documenting each product, you are practicing technical writing, sharpening your reviewing and editing skills, becoming more comfortable with the technical writing tools, AND most importantly – building confidence to face interviews! With each subsequent rewrite or edit, you will learn to simplify complex concepts, write concisely, and improve upon your mistakes.

Each successfully documented product adds one more item to your portfolio and gets you a step closer to becoming a full-fledged technical writer!

Building a technical writing portfolio, how easy is it?

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