People with a magnetic personality may seem like they have a superpower for attracting others, but really they just have a friendly, open personality. You can adopt a magnetic personality by being friendly to others and having an open, positive attitude toward life and other people. Self-reflection is important to understand and evaluate your current attitude. Everyone has bad days, but a positive attitude can elevate your bad mood and influence others to feel good as well. People tend to prefer to interact with polite, well-mannered people. Remembering to say “please” and “thank you” can go a long way. Also, try to be respectful by holding the door open for others and being generous. This is why good parents reinforce manners at a young age. Manners go hand in hand with being a people person. Staying on top of current events is a fertile area for conversation topics. It is also important to stay up to date with the world around you. Incorporate a newspaper or news website into your daily routine. When you don't know something, be honest about it. Say, "I haven't read about that, can you tell me more?" Be open to what they have to say to show them that you're interested in their thoughts. This shows you're a curious, open person. People are inclined to prefer the company of people who are reasonably clean and well-kept. Do this by caring for your hygiene by brushing your teeth, showering, and wearing clean clothes. Influence is a trait of a people person. Everyone knows those who have a negative impact on others. These are the types of people who will cause those they interact with to feel crummy. The inverse of a negative impact is a positive influence. These are the type of people who raise up others and point out the positive traits in those around them.  Start with being humble. Humility makes you more approachable and enables you to boost up others. This attracts people to you.  Always be yourself but also incorporate these traits: funny, thoughtful, selfless, insightful, and interesting. Constantly look for ways that you can grow and learn as a person. Not only will this help you be your best self, it also makes you a more interesting person. Look for areas where you personally feel like you need to grow. This can be in your social skills, character, your daily attitude, your hobbies, your areas of interest, or a topic that's grabbed your interest. Being a lifetime learner will expand your views about the world around you.

Summary: Understand a magnetic personality. Use good manners. Keep up with the news and current events. Be well-groomed and tidy. Reach for becoming influential. Reflect on your attributes.


This is the largest professional organization for technical writers. It maintains a large job bank and career center. Joining this group is a great way to learn about job openings and trends in the technical writing field.  Read the "Intercom" and "Technical Communication Journal" to get a background on what is currently being published in the technical writing field. The "STC Notebook" is a public blog maintained by the STC. Subscribe to its RSS feed for updates. You will need samples of professional technical writing to create a portfolio. The following are ways you can volunteer your time in order to produce these samples:  Contact your local STC chapter. Ask if they have volunteer projects available to help you gain experience. Many times, you'll be able to find people who are happy to help a new writer gain the experience they need. Call local businesses and ask them if they need help creating an instructional manual or technical document. Most businesses will jump at the chance to have someone with a writing education do a manual for free. Make sure to specify the hours you are willing to work, your time line and what you can produce. Work on an open source project. A quick internet search for open source projects will connect you to these projects all over the world. In addition, every summer Google hosts a "Summer of Code" project that pairs students with mentors to contribute to its many open source projects.Volunteer and track your hours spent improving their instructional or technical text. Draw from your own learning experience to write something original. If you've recently done an open source project, for example, make a brochure explaining how to create open source material, as if you were writing for a client. If you're interested in writing particular kinds of technical material, start writing for yourself. An employer is more likely to see your potential from your work than from anything else you could offer. Alternatively, rework an existing piece of technical writing that you think you could make better. Take a badly designed brochure, and rework it so that it's more effective. Document both "before" and "after" for your portfolio. A freelance writer is someone who works as an independent contractor to a business or other professional organization. It's possible to make a living as a freelance writer, but many people do freelance writing to supplement their income while working other jobs, or when they are students. Freelance writing is a good way to gain professional work experience as a technical writer.  Online sites such as Upwork, Freelancer, and Squidoo serve to match freelance writers with potential employers for a percentage of the writer's fee.Others, such as Craiglist, are free to public use. Freelance writing will allow you to try out a number of different styles of writing to find the areas that most interest you. Developing an online profile as a freelance writer can help you be more attractive to a prospective employer. Make sure your samples are impeccable. Proofread your work carefully to ensure high quality throughout. You should include attractive, well designed digital and physical samples of your work in your portfolio.  Include 10 to 15 diverse examples of technical writing experience. For example, include video tutorials, journal articles, quick user guides, help files, an excerpt from a business manual and anything else that touts your experience. Write a brief introduction explaining the work you've done, its purpose and any tools you used. Post your digital portfolio on a website. There are many sites that offer free hosting. Make sure your portfolio is well-designed and easily accessible. Include any relevant educational experience at the end of your portfolio. Although this will be in your resume, it is important to highlight any honors, essay publications and high marks you received while training as a technical writer. Format it to highlight your experience, including volunteer work, and education. Remember that a well-designed resume is built on strong visual imagery as well as well-chosen words.  You should change your resume for every job application. Highlight the skills that apply to the job posting and industry, rather than producing a general resume for every job. Look at sample resumes written by other technical writers for ideas on how to structure your own resume.
Summary: Join the Society for Technical Communication (STC). Volunteer to do technical writing jobs. Become a freelance writer. Create a portfolio. Design your resume.