Experience • Gender • Location • Training • Management • Organization Size • Satisfaction • Contractors/Part-Timers • Canada and Others • Survey Home

The nature of software user assistance and the broader field of technical communication requires us to invest our time in a colorful assortment of educational mechanisms. We develop our skills through formal education, on the job training, personal enrichment efforts on our own time, seminars and conferences, and various other ways. But does the form of learning affect salary level? Our survey asked the respondents to identify the training format in which they learned the majority of their core user assistance skills.

The first figure shows that the majority of the respondents, 65%, gained their core skills at the office on company time. This can probably be attributed to the unique skills and technologies that we employ. A fifth of us indicated that learning on our own was the main way to stay current.

The second figure shows how the different types of training sources affect salary. While only 7% of the respondents said they learned core skills from seminars and conferences, this group also enjoys the highest average annual salary of $69,642. However, the disparity with the other forms of training is not great.

In a separate question we asked the respondents if their formal education was in the field of Technical Communication — 43% indicated it was.