Respondents were given the opportunity to add further comments and/or suggestions for future survey questions. Here are the comments received:

Any further comments?

• Very good survey
• The results of these surveys are valuable tools for those in the industry or planning to enter it. Please continue doing them!! : )
• Thanks for conducting the survey
• I'm from Toronto, Canada and have been in Brisbane for just over a year. I'm astounded by the number of technical writing positions being advertised here. At the same time, I'm disappointed by the lack of networking, training resources, conferences and even webinars (in the AEST time zone!), particularly in the area of single-sourcing. If there's an influx of tech writers in Southeast Queensland, where are the training resources to keep them up-to-speed on the latest trends in single-sourcing and content management?
• No obvious category for software manufacturer/developer/vendor, so picked Manufacturing. I am considering joining STC - my work has me somewhere between org communications and technical writing.
• Thank for the opportunity to complete this survey. Hope it helps.
• Happy to contribute.
• There was an 'unattached' other field on one page.
• Please ask early in the survey whether the questionee is a student. I am a full time uni student and student member of ASTC and therefore had to answer some questions by referring to my past employment activities; eg I entered education as an activity I regulary perform however I am a student not a teacher - it was the closest answer I could give. I am not sure whether you should use my survey as it would skew your results.

Are there any questions you would like to see included in future surveys?

• More on ratios of working from home v in office
• The industry seems to be picking up (at last). Let us all hope so.
• I would like to know the ratio of permanent vacancies to contract vacancies that was advertised in the past year.
• Skills List
• Do you feel that your employers/clients place enough value on the work of technical writers?
• Do you think a process of formal accreditation would benefit the technical writing profession? If so, who should put it in place?
• Questions about the type of business structure under which contractors operate - agents, umbrella companies, sole trader, own company.
• Level of insurance cover held personally.
• What conference, book or journal article (new or old) did you find most useful (refer to most in your work or made you think most about your work/career) in the past 12 months?
• What is the most significant trend you are noticing in your workplace and/or with the type of work you do?
• Some question to find out who works on IT related content and other content eg agriculture, health, finance etc What industry you work in does not indicate this at all.
• No
• Perhaps something about how happy people are with career options available to them, which could arguably apply both to employees and contractors.
• At least an entry that offers people the opportunity to identify themselve as someone who has resigned.
• In my case, I have just resigned from a major American corporation here in Brisbane to hopefully pursue a career in Technical Document Writing.
• I am hoping to work on creating documents such as User Guides paired with applicable Help file documents to be embedded in software applications.
• Some of the questions assume you are working for one employer. I might work for 3 or 4 employers a year, all of different size and industry, so its difficult to answer those questions with a one off answer. I suggest you re-think some of these questions.
• Questions on employer attitudes to technical communicators - does it improve after they have hired one and see the merits of their work?