They often advance by moving to other firms. In larger firms, jobs usually are structured more formally. Beginners generally do research, fact checking, or copy editing. They take on full-scale writing or editing duties more slowly than employees of small companies. Advancement comes as they are assigned more important articles.
Technical writers begin in two different ways.
They may start out as experts in a technical area and learn to write. Some begin as a writer and learn a specialized field. A bachelor's degree in a technical field, journalism, or English is usually the minimum education required. Many colleges and universities offer a journalism major. Journalism courses include introductory mass media, basic reporting and copy editing, history of journalism, and press law and ethics.