A document control specialist usually spends a lot of time fine-tuning the literature, manuals, and instruction materials that come with high-tech products. The majority of these experts work in fields like engineering or pharmaceutical manufacturing, where the work is complex and simple language is uncommon. However, clear instructions and product usage information are essential, which is where a document control specialist comes in. This individual primarily serves as a quality control officer for literature and texts that are made available to the general public. The job entails a lot of high-level corroboration, data entry, and consistency checks.
A document control specialist usually works as part of a technical writing team. Technical writing aims to capture the essence of a procedure or product before framing it in language that is more easily understood by the general public. However, this entails more than just describing and translating. A technical document specialist must be extremely precise and ensure that the materials use consistent language and coding throughout. Information that is difficult to understand that is published or distributed can result in injury or product misuse, both of which can be costly to the manufacturer.
The majority of the manuals and technical documentation that come with electronic and technological products are handled by document control specialists. The specialist reviews the information after the writing team has finished compiling it, looking for clarity and accuracy. This frequently necessitates the use of a specialized lexicon of highly technical terms. Those terms must be defined and applied consistently throughout the documents. When specialists discover errors or areas where more clarification is needed, they usually send the documents back to the writing team.
Working as a document control specialist generally necessitates a high level of attention to detail and an aptitude for working with complex materials. Specialists, on the other hand, aren’t required to have extensive subject-matter knowledge. Most document specialists are given the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the industry on the job. There are some exceptions, such as projects in the military and national defense sectors, where specialists are required to have firsthand knowledge of the parts being built and described. In most other cases, however, only a bachelor’s degree, prior writing and editing experience, and strong organizational skills are required.
Outside of engineering and science, the term “document control specialist” is occasionally, albeit infrequently, used to refer to entry-level employees who are essentially mail clerks. These employees sort incoming and outgoing mail, process memos, and deal with the influx of documents. Apart from their job titles, this type of professional and those who work in the top tiers of manufacturing have little in common.