The 4 Benefits Most People Don’t Know About Technical Writing

The last one surprised me the most.

👋 Hi, this is Sarah with the weekly issue of the Dutch Engineer Newsletter. In this newsletter, I cover data and machine learning concepts, code best practices, and career advice that will help you accelerate your career.

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I would be your last choice to write.

I was deaf for the first four years of my life. I moved from The Netherlands to the United States, and English was not my first language. I was super insecure about the way I spoke and in front of people. I also failed my English courses more times than I want to admit. My English teacher told me to drop Advanced Placement (AP) English because I was failing the essays and would not pass the exam, so why try? I stayed in that AP English course, and I did pass the English AP exam the following year.

Those insecurities and anxieties are still something I fight with to this day.

However, my attitude has changed towards writing and speaking in the last 18 months.

Let’s roll back to January 2022. Covid was dwindling down, and layoff rounds started. It was my turn right before Christmas. And I had so much negative energy from the layoff and literally did not know what to do with myself.

I started writing. I wrote 38 articles and gained 1000 followers in 6 months. It was unbelievable. It was just the push I needed to start writing consistently on LinkedIn too. I am now at 65k followers on LinkedIn, 1.6k on Medium, and 3.3k+ on Substack.

Sharing my technical writing has positively impacted my career, and it can do the same for you.

Thanks to Delta for sponsoring this newsletter! I am a huge fan of Delta Lake and use it every day both in Data Engineering and Machine Learning.

1. Short technical article pieces are as effective as longer pieces.

The benefits of writing are not limited to long pieces like this one. I have gained as much benefit and skill from writing on LinkedIn or short pieces as I have from articles written on Medium that were over 8 minutes of reading time. As you change your platform and piece lengths, I have learned (and continue to learn) how to focus my content on my audience, what I write about, and how to approach that topic at various lengths. That’s exactly the kind of skills you will need as a data professional. You will need to share what you have learned with various audiences and speak their language. So why not get a head start by writing short pieces on different platforms like LinkedIn or Medium?

2. Technical writing makes you more resilient in your career.

We have all seen the rounds of layoffs, even with companies who promised not to lay off. Heck. I have been part of 4 layoffs in the last year and a half!

What if we could set ourselves up for success? We can through writing and sharing what we write. I receive requests for job interviews, writing opportunities, and speaker opportunities on a regular basis. I have also built relationships that I have cultivated into sponsorships, mentorships, and partnerships (like working as a mentor and teacher on

Zach Wilson

‘s Bootcamp).

3. Technical writing will make you a critical thinker.

Technical writing in long and short formats means you are sharing your ideas with others and constantly writing out those ideas. While processing and sharing those ideas, I will find new material and come across new ideas and perspectives that I had not considered before. It makes me critically question my point of view and what I believe in but also lets me share my opinions in a precise and organized manner. That’s what makes me a great critical thinker. And when you write, you will grow as a critical thinker too.

4. You will now be the designated presenter, writer, and equivalent person in your team.

This aspect was incredibly unexpected and has had a profound impact on me. I have a few goals of giving presentations in larger crowds, and I was not sure how I was going to grow in my career from that aspect. But now that I write and share what I have written about, I have received many opportunities to share pieces of information in various different formats and across the company. This has allowed me to expand my soft skills and increased my confidence dramatically.

Final Thoughts

Technical writing, regardless of size, provides you with so many benefits for your career — it makes you a designated sharer of information, a critical thinker, and resilient in your career.

You need to start today. I saw benefits within a few weeks of writing as I interviewed for my current position only 2 months after I started writing (and yes, he pointed out to me that he saw a Medium article I wrote).

Has technical writing helped you grow in your career?