Technical Writer Resume Example & Writing Guide
View a professional technical writer resume example with proven bullet points, key skills, and expert tips. Copy what works and customize with your own experience.
Professional Summary Examples
Start your resume with a compelling summary. Here are proven examples you can adapt:
Technical writer with 5+ years of experience creating developer documentation and API guides for SaaS products. Reduced support tickets by 35% through comprehensive documentation overhaul. Expert in docs-as-code workflows, Markdown, and developer experience writing.
Detail-oriented technical writer specializing in software documentation and knowledge management. Created documentation portal serving 50K+ monthly readers with 90% helpfulness rating. Strong background in DITA, structured authoring, and content strategy.
Technical writer with a software engineering background, uniquely positioned to translate complex technical concepts into clear, user-friendly documentation. Built documentation system from scratch for startup that scaled from 10 to 500+ API consumers.
Work Experience Bullet Points
Use these achievement-focused bullet points as inspiration. Replace the numbers with your own metrics.
- Created comprehensive API documentation for 50+ endpoints, reducing developer onboarding time from 2 weeks to 3 days
- Reduced customer support tickets by 35% through overhaul of user guides, FAQs, and troubleshooting documentation
- Built and maintained documentation portal serving 50K+ monthly readers with 90% helpfulness rating
- Authored 200+ technical articles, tutorials, and how-to guides covering product features and integration patterns
- Implemented docs-as-code workflow using Git, Markdown, and CI/CD, enabling 15 engineers to contribute documentation directly
- Created video tutorials and interactive guides that increased user feature adoption by 25%
- Developed documentation style guide and templates adopted across 4 product teams, ensuring consistency across 500+ pages
- Conducted documentation audit identifying 100+ outdated articles, leading to 40% improvement in documentation accuracy
- Collaborated with product and engineering teams to document 20+ feature releases per quarter with same-day publication
- Built internal knowledge base with 300+ articles, reducing internal question-and-answer volume by 50%
Key Skills for Technical Writer Resume
Include these skills on your resume to pass ATS screening and impress recruiters:
Recommended Certifications
These certifications can strengthen your technical writer resume:
Tips for Your Technical Writer Resume
- Quantify your achievements: Use specific numbers, percentages, and dollar amounts to demonstrate impact.
- Use industry keywords: Include terms from the job description to pass ATS screening.
- Lead with action verbs: Start bullet points with strong verbs like developed, implemented, increased, reduced.
- Keep it concise: Aim for one page unless you have 10+ years of relevant experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What skills should a technical writer emphasize on their resume?
Highlight writing tools (Markdown, DITA, MadCap Flare), version control (Git), content management systems, API documentation experience (OpenAPI/Swagger), and any technical background (programming, engineering). Include metrics like readership numbers, support ticket reduction, and documentation coverage.
Should technical writers include a writing portfolio?
Yes, a portfolio is essential. Include 3-5 diverse samples: API documentation, user guides, tutorials, and technical blog posts. If your work is behind paywalls, create sanitized versions or include personal documentation projects. Published blog posts and open-source documentation contributions work well.
Is a technical background necessary for a technical writer resume?
Not always required but highly valued. If you have a technical background (CS degree, engineering experience), highlight it prominently. If not, demonstrate your ability to learn technical concepts quickly through examples of complex topics you have documented. API documentation skills are increasingly important.
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