Common Software Tools in the Professional Workplace
The ability to write well is the single most important skill a technical communicator
can possess. That said, many employers also want to hire writers who are
technology-savvy, who can use software and hardware to create and distribute information.
The best way to discover employers’ expectations is to browse various job
ads, especially those related to your interests.
This computer skills handout isn’t exhaustive and is Windows-centric.
In addition, keep in mind employers won't expect you to know every package listed here, but the handout does provide examples of programs to mention if you have experience
with them. If you have ideas for adding to this handout, please let me know.
Operating Systems
| Consumer |
Windows XP Home Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows 7 Home Premium |
| Graphics and Multimedia |
Macintosh OS X |
| Corporate |
Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Business, Windows 7 Professional; UNIX |
| Open Source |
Linux; FreeBSD |
|
Handheld
|
Android, iOS (iPhone), Windows Phone 7 |
Desktop Publishing Programs
| Informal Publications |
Microsoft Publisher |
| Formal Publications |
Adobe InDesign; Quark XPress |
| Technical Publications |
Adobe FrameMaker; MadCap Flare |
Graphics Programs
| Photo and Web (Raster) |
Adobe Photoshop; Corel Paint Shop Pro; Adobe Fireworks |
| Illustration (Vector) |
Adobe Illustrator; CorelDRAW; Microsoft Visio; AutoCAD |
Word Processing
| |
Microsoft Word; OpenOffice.org
Writer; Apple Pages (Mac); Google Docs, Office Live, or other cloud-based word-processing applications |
Web Authoring
| |
Adobe Dreamweaver; Microsoft Expression Web; plain-text
editor (for example, Notepad++) for coding by hand |
Help Authoring
| |
Adobe RoboHelp; MadCap Flare; Component One Doc-to-Help;
Author-IT; Microsoft HTML Help Workshop (in tandem with Web-authoring software);
DITA
|
Screen Capture Programs
| Still |
TechSmith Snagit; Inbit FullShot; Hyperionics HyperSnap-DX; MadCap
Capture; Windows Snipping Tool or other capturing
built in to the operating system (for example, pressing ALT + PRINT SCREEN
in Windows)
|
| Motion |
Adobe Captivate; TechSmith Camtasia; MadCap Mimic; Wink |
Spreadsheets
| |
Microsoft Excel; OpenOffice.org Calc; Google Docs, Office Live, or other cloud-based spreadsheet applications |
Presentations
| |
Microsoft PowerPoint; Apple Keynote (Mac); OpenOffice.org Impress; Google Docs, Office Live,
Prezi, or other cloud-based presentation applications
|
Computer Languages
| |
Visual Basic; Java; C; C++; C#; Objective C |
Markup Languages and Related Technologies
| |
XHTML, HTML, CSS, XML, XSL, JavaScript, ASP, Ruby on Rails |
Multimedia
| |
Adobe Flash, Adobe Director, Adobe Premiere |
Project Management
Portable Document File Creation
| |
Adobe Acrobat; NitroPDF; CutePDF, PDF995, other freeware; PDF-creation built into the software |
CD and DVD Mastering
| |
Ahead Nero; Roxio Creator; CyberLink Power2Go; Ashampoo Burning Studio; CD and DVD burning built into the
operating system |
OCR
| |
Nuance OmniPage Pro, Nuance PaperPort; Abbyy FineReader OCR; Adobe Acrobat; Microsoft OneNote
|
E-mail and Personal Information Organization
| |
Microsoft Outlook (Windows), Microsoft Entourage (Mac); Lotus Notes; Mozilla
Thunderbird with Lightning extension; Gmail or other Web-based
e-mail and calendaring |
Web Browsers
| |
Windows Internet Explorer; Mozilla Firefox; Google Chrome; Opera; Safari |
Social Media Platforms
| |
Facebook; Google+; LinkedIn; Tumblr; Twitter; WordPress; YouTube |
Written by Michael Stowe. Last updated on January 17, 2012.