Technical writers have always faced the same basic challenge as other professionals in our industry: Keeping up with the fast pace of technology. Upskilling in tech is like running on a hamster wheel — you’re moving your little legs as fast as you can but it’s futile because there’s always some new technology that emerges along with new skills to learn.
This often makes me want to gnaw my way out of my Habitrail, but for the most part I accept it. It’s the price of staying in this profession.
I don’t mean to make upskilling sound like it’s always a chore, however. I love to learn. I just wish I could do it at my own pace.
This got me to thinking about how a love of learning is at odds with the pressure to always be marketable, especially with the tech job market as volatile as it has been recently. So with an eye toward strategically growing as a professional while staying true to myself, here’s my five-part plan for upskilling this year.
1. Identify the ‘Easy Wins’
”Easy wins” are the marketable skills you can learn quickly with the least amount of effort. For me, this means earning my Salesforce Admin certificate during the first quarter of this year.
While the exam itself is not easy and many people fail on the first try, the Admin certificate is within reach for me after getting my Salesforce Associate and AI Associate certs last year.
I’ve purchased online courses that I’m following and have been passing practice exams with a slim margin. My goal is to focus on the topic areas where I’m weakest and to comfortably widen the margin on the practice tests before scheduling the official exam.
This will be a key milestone for me as a Salesforce professional. While there has been much debateover the value of Salesforce certifications in general, the Administrator cert is still the foundation for all of them. I plan to earn it before the end of March.
2. Focus on a Core Skillset
My core skillset in my job revolves around web and content design. I’ve mastered HTML and DITA markup, as well as CSS. I know just enough JavaScript to be dangerous.
It’s time to get beyond that “dangerous” stage with JavaScript and learn to write it from scratch. This will make me more valuable in my role.
JavaScript is of course the third member of the front-end web development trinity along with HTML and CSS. I’d like to finally round off this skillset and move on to more advanced markup, styling, and programming.
3. Make Time to Learn
Time is a precious resource for everyone these days. With six people in my small household, three of whom are ages 5 and under, there’s always something to interfere with my study time outside of work. Over the holidays we were all sick in bed with the flu for several days. This past weekend the dishwasher broke down and I will be sidetracked a couple of days scheduling estimates and getting it fixed or replaced.
Fortunately I’m an early riser, so I’m planning to devote at least 3 hours every morning to my upskilling goals before work. Ultimately this will be a matter of showing up every day and applying myself to each task.
4. Considerations for ‘Learning AI’
I posted here about the challenge of using AI in my job. Cost and data privacy are my two biggest obstacles as a B2B technical writer for a small company. But there are also troubling social and environmental costs of AI in general. I can’t in good conscience offer full-throated support to a dubious technology that requires dedicated nuclear power plants and massive data centers to run.
Still, other tech writers are finding viable ways to work with AI in their jobs, and I do think it’s important for me to at least be aware of the trends.
To that end I am starting with the OxygenXML Positron Assistant add-on in my personal copy of the software. I also use the free versions of ChatGPT and Claude.ai to tool around on my own.
Lastly, related to my job, I will be working toward the Salesforce AI Specialist certification after I earn the Admin cert.
5. Be Flexible
Because no one can be sure how this year will bear out — personally, professionally, or geopolitically — I’m going be ready for both opportunities and challenges as they arise.
I have a loose plan about what to do in the event I lose my job, and in the meantime I will be focusing on the upskilling outlined above. I’ll report back in periodically on my progress.
