Google Technical Writer Salary and Job Outlook

Google is among the largest and most influential technology companies globally, and it is additionally known that Google places a heavy emphasis on employee wellbeing. Who wouldn’t want to work for Google? If you are a current or aspiring technical writer, you may wonder what it takes to land a job at this innovative company, as well as what Google technical writers earn, on average, per year.

Average Salary for Google Technical Writers

The median annual wage for technical writers currently stands at $74,650, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This median salary is significantly higher than the median for all writers and authors in the United States, which is $67,120.

However, salary ranges in this skilled profession are high. Within the bottom 10 percent of the pay scale, technical writers earn less than $45,510 per year. The top 10 percent, on the other hand, earn over $119,040 on an annual basis.

What is the average salary for technical writers who are employed at Google, the most influential global tech company? Although there is no government data to shed light light on the average yearly wage Google technical writers earn, privately-owned platforms that track salary averages across all professions do offer some insights.

The platform Glassdoor suggests that technical writers who are employed by Google earn between $50,448 and $193,485 per year. The average salary for Google technical writers is estimated to be $110,794 annually, meanwhile.
PayScale’s data indicates that technical writers who work for Google earn, on average, $81,143 per year. They add that salary ranges between $71,500 and 104,000 per year are typical for technical writers at this company.
Salary.com reports that Google technical writers earn an average of $88,213 per year. This platform further shows that most technical writers at Google make between $79,920 and $97,146 per year.

Readers should keep in mind that each of these platforms utilizes its own data collection methods, and that the information they publish is based on a combination of job postings and salary data provided by technical writers who are currently working at Google. Although this data does not offer a complete picture — as not all Google technical writers will have provided information — it does show a general trend.

Technical writers at Google earn annual salaries that are very much in line with the median annual salaries for technical writers in general, as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and even slightly above that. An individual technical writer’s salary will still depend on relevant factors such as their years of experience and education.

What Do Google Technical Writers Make Per Hour?

Information offered by PayScale suggests that the average hourly rate for Google technical writers is $42.50. This is significantly higher than the typical hourly rate technical writers earn across all companies. The median hourly earnings for technical writers in the United States are, at present, $35.89 per hour.

Based on Experience

The way in which a Google technical writer’s years of experience — at Google or within other companies — impacts their pay check is not entirely clear, but PayScale does offer estimates. According to this popular salary-tracking platform:

Technical writers who work for Google earn an average of $77,948 per year in the earlier stages of their careers. These writers will likely have up to five years of experience in the field, and may have worked for Google between two and four years.
Highly-experienced Google technical writers, who likely have accumulated eight to 10 years of experience as technical writers and spent over four years with Google, earn an average of $107,500 per year.

Based on Education

There is, unfortunately, no information to indicate how the educational background of technical writers employed at Google influences their earning potential. This may be because Google highly values skilled and talented technical writers with non-traditional backgrounds.

In general, however, wage trends across all professions indicate that qualifications have a great impact on the salary a worker tends to earn. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that:

Professionals who have earned an Associate’s degree earn, on average, $141 more each week than those who only have a high school diploma.
Those who have completed a Bachelor’s degree make as much as $502 more on a weekly basis than workers who have a high school diploma.
With a Master’s degree under your belt, you are statistically likely to make $751 more each week than someone for whom their high school diploma is their highest educational attainment.

However, this data only looks at education. Technical writers who have earned a Bachelor’s degree can look forward to regular pay increases as they gain experience.

Top Paying States for Google Technical Writers

While no clear data is available to show the top-paying states for Google technical writers, Google has offices based in California, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Recent information also indicates that Google — which does employ a range of remote workers — adjusts its salary offers on the basis of the cost of living in their locations. This likely means that Google technical writers who are based in California enjoy the highest salaries. They also, on the higher hand, have the highest cost of living.

Job Outlook for Google Technical Writers

The outlook for technical writers in general is very positive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that jobs for technical writers will grow by 12 percent between the present and the year 2030. This is much faster than the job growth expected across all occupations, at eight percent.

The BLS adds that technical writing jobs are expected to rise especially fast within the high-tech sector. This would indicate that Google technical writers can expect a long and rewarding career. In addition, work experience at Google will offer technical writers who wish to work elsewhere a range of career opportunities.

What Exactly Does a Google Technical Writer Do?

Technical writers have the challenging job of conveying complex technical information, both to industry professionals and to laypeople. They may:

Ascertain precisely what the target audience needs to gain from certain documents.
Analyze data, including in order to discover ways to render technical documents more accessible to broader audiences.
Collaborate with other team members, in a variety of departments, to determine how to best craft technical documents.
Write, edit, and revise documents as needed, including engaging in standardization.

At Google, technical writers will engage with an extremely broad variety of documents. Some technical writers employed at Google may be UX writers, while others may work on white papers or other internal documents. Google technical writers work at the cutting edge of technology and will always have new and exciting challenges.

How to Become a Google Technical Writer?

Technical writers work across all fields. Many have a degree in a field of study related to writing, such as journalism, English, or communications. In a high-tech company such as Google, on the other hand, most technical writers will instead or additionally have relevant degrees in areas such as computer science.

After attaining relevant qualifications, aspiring Google technical writers may build work experience within smaller software companies. They can also look for internship opportunities after college.

Qualifications to Be a Google Technical Writer

People who are hoping to become technical writers at Google will benefit from completing dual degrees in a writing-related field as well as a technical field. Examples include:

Journalism
Communications
Marketing
English
Computer science
Software engineering

A Bachelor’s degree can be sufficient to kick-start a career as a technical writer at Google. However, an advanced degree will increase an applicant’s career opportunities.

Skills to Be a Google Technical Writer

In addition to the prerequisite educational background and technical skills, technical writers, including those who work for Google, will strongly benefit fro the following skills:

Technical writers must be strong problem-solvers who can think outside of the box and design creative solutions.
Technical writers have to have a natural attention to detail that allows them to spot and fix challenges that arise.
Because technical writers collaborate with a wide variety of coworkers, including those outside of their own departments, they will depend on solid interpersonal and communication skills.
Technical writers need to be creative, both to successfully write the best documents and to design solutions when they encounter challenges.

Google technical writers will additionally need to be deeply familiar with the software field, and possess extensive knowledge of the company’s mission.

Can You Be a Google Technical Writer Without a Degree?

The skills technical writers, and especially those who work at cutting-edge technology companies such as Google, rely on every day are generally learned over the course of a college degree. While there may be exceptions, Google technical writers require, on the whole, at least a Bachelor’s degree.

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