UNT Tech Comm Alumnus Braden Jones works as senior technical writer and application developer at Santander Consumer USA. He recently spoke to Dr. Campbell's TECM 2800 class on the profession.

Discovering Tech Comm at UNT

Jones knew he loved English, writing, and reading but didn't want to be an English teacher. After reading the tech comm program description, he thought "it sounded fantastic." Jones subsequently enrolled at UNT and took a tech writing course.

"It was tech comm that really did it for me," Jones concluded.

He noted that the skills learned at UNT were central to his ability to find and excel at the technical and procedural document writing career that he loves. Jones cites Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop as two of the most useful software applications he studied at UNT.

"It's 100% everything. Without this degree, without what I learned here, I would have no clue what I'm doing," insists Jones, "UNT gave me all the tools I need to succeed. This degree changed my life."

After completing an internship at E2open in Dallas during his senior year, Jones confidently transitioned into the position at Santander.

His current position requires him to act as a subject-matter expert on a software product created by a team of designers that are no longer at Santander. Also, he creates documentation to explain the product, interviews people with experience using it, and conducts user-experience (UX) testing.

"I did take a couple UX classes here, so I have some experience." Jones said. "The teachers at UNT really do a good job of preparing you."

Advice for Tech Comm Students

For students preparing to graduate and enter the field, Jones recommends to "utilize absolutely everything you can in college."

"I didn't realize how much variety I had access to while studying at UNT," said Jones.

In his senior year, he attended as many workshops and lectures sponsored by the tech comm department as he could. "The resume workshop actually produced my resume and taught me how to tailor my resumes for the jobs I applied to," said Jones. He noted that gathering and perfecting writing samples is the most important thing to do.

Praising the teachers as "world class", Jones added that "they will bend over backwards for you to help you succeed". "I really enjoyed UNT. I love my degree. I love what I do. There are so many niches in tech comm. Try everything you can."

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