Technical Writing in the Financial Industry, Part Two

By Sandhya Larsen, Orange County Chapter

This is part two of a two-part article. Part one appeared in the January-February issue of Sound Off! This article was previously published in Steps & Specs, the newsletter of the STC Policies and Procedures SIG, and TechniScribe, the Orange County Chapter newsletter, and is reprinted here with permission.

Financial planning and associated writing projects
Generally speaking, financial planning companies sell their services to individual or corporate clients. For an individual client, an analyst uses financial modeling software to evaluate fiscal needs; suggests portfolio additions such as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds; and forecasts potential earnings over time.

For a corporate client, the analyst performs in-depth research and analysis of a wide range of capital investment opportunities, such as securities, venture capital offerings, and real estate acquisitions. Using additional features of the financial modeling software suite, the analyst develops a comprehensive written business plan which may include an audio-visual presentation with illustrated fiscal scenarios, to be delivered to the client corporation in person on online.

The financial software suites provide obvious opportunities for technical writers, and the business plans seem to provide more. For verification, I talked to Michael Fuller, a local expert who formerly held analyst and management positions with financial services, securities, and investment firms. Michael considers himself to be the best technical writer he knows, as well as a subject matter expert in his field. He has advanced proficiency with the standard desktop publishing tools used by technical writers, and routinely submitted the business plans and marketing presentations he wrote to his former managers and attorneys for review.

I asked Michael if he knows of other technical writers in the financial industry, and he answered with a touch of irony: "Yes, but they are attorneys and paralegals! When a wealthy client needs estate planning,” Michael explained, “the project is so technical—involving real estate, tax, probate, and investment law—that it must be transferred to an attorney and legal staff who specialize in this field.”

“The easiest way for a technical writer to play this game,” Michael asserted, “is to become a certified paralegal.” Indeed, I was aware of legal research and legal writing, having done some of this in a past life, but the existence of legal and financial cross-functional specialties was news to me!

What the want ads say
The experts I interviewed did more than hint that writers with subject matter expertise are highly valued in the financial industry, and my frequent reading of the want ads underscored this point. For many months, the major job boards have been running ads from various types of financial companies who require technical writers to have previous industry experience in no uncertain terms. “Just how necessary is this really?” I privately mused. “I can do research, interview experts, and write effectively on any subject, financial or otherwise. With software, all I have to do is use it until I understand it, and great documentation then flows fast and furiously.”

I was especially piqued by a recruiter’s ad for a writer who could independently develop company valuation documents. This ad, for a Carpenteria investment firm, even stipulated that "experience with documenting finance-related software is not enough to qualify." So I called Jack Molisani, President of Prospring Technical Staffing, who had posted the ad. Jack didn’t deny that a competent writer could do this job even without prior industry experience, but he clearly stated that in today’s job market, employers can demand an exact match for their requirements. "Why should they accept a close match, when they can get an exact match?" Jack asked. "Employers would rather have someone who is already familiar with their industry and terminology so they won’t have to pay for training." “Well then, what kind of writer is actually qualified for this job,” I wondered. "Someone who has done the same job for another employer," said Jack. "Someone who has an MBA and writing experience, or has worked for another investment banking company and understands the relevant terminology." But the saving grace came when Jack revealed that two years earlier, he had placed a writer with the Carpenteria company to write software documentation, and now she is writing company valuations.

Qualifying as a financial writer
The truth is, specialized industry knowledge is a critical factor in the career of every technical writer. Does this mean one is forever stuck with the industry in which one has happened to work for a number of years? Academically speaking, the answer is no. If you want to transition to the financial industry, you can get an MBA in two years, become a certified paralegal in ten months, or explore the other expensive, time-consuming educational remedies that undoubtedly exist. But technical writing experts maintain there is a cheaper, faster solution: volunteer your writing services and add the experience to your resume.

Jack Molisani suggested you find someone who is working on financial documents and offer to help—free of charge, if necessary. You can solicit employers directly or approach independent contractors and volunteer your assistance with their projects. Once you have some experience with financial projects on your resume, you can leverage it to get projects of your own.

Adrienne Escoe, President of Escoe Bliss Communication, suggested putting in some extra time to assist the financial department at your present place of work. If you’re applying for a job that requires industry-specific experience, Adrienne advised, you can offer to work one week for free to demonstrate your skills with the new subject matter. Adrienne also emphasized the importance of strong skills with authoring tools such as RoboHelp, and a picture-perfect resume that showcases your excellent skills with the formatting features of Microsoft Word as well as proofreading to eliminate all errors.

I was encouraged when Adrienne told me that Escoe Bliss recently placed technical writers at three prominent Orange County and Los Angeles mortgage companies, two of which did not require previous financial industry experience. All three of the companies did, however, require experience in writing corporate policies and procedures. Some of the writers worked in industry-specific areas including loan origination, loan servicing, and default management. The other writers developed policy and procedure documentation, and wrote content for the company intranet and newsletters.

I was also inspired by these words on the Writer’s Market site: "The financial writer [may acquire a basic business sense] through formal education, practical experience, or informal study. Knowledge of the stock market is a common foundation; the writer then develops a financial specialty [that] may take any of several forms…Writers keep current in their field by regularly reading industry publications, union newspapers, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. They gather economic information from government offices, public relations agencies, and professional societies associated with their writing specialty.”

In conclusion, I believe that a technical writer can transition from one industry to another by mastering the current authoring tools, acquiring experience through volunteering, taking some form of relevant education, and reading lots of industry publications. The financial industry should be no exception to this rule. I offer my sincere thanks to everyone who made this article possible by answering my questions and providing the necessary information.