Combining the art and science of writing leads to new career direction for MRU alumna

After Heather Herman, BN, graduated from Mount Royal with a nursing degree, she knew she could combine the skills she learned in the medical field with her passion for writing. Now a recent graduate of the Technical Writing Extension Certificate program through Mount Royal’s Faculty of Continuing Education, Herman has truly hit her stride. Thanks to her own talent, and support from Mount Royal instructors, she has been working at AVEVA Canada — an industrial software company — in a paid placement, a move that is helping her get a head start on a meaningful career. 

When Herman discovered that Mount Royal offered a technical writing program, she knew she’d found the perfect opportunity to build her skillset. Technical writing involves writing about a specific subject that requires explanation, direction or instruction in publications such as reports, manuals and standard operating procedure guides. 

“I’ve always had a deep appreciation for the written word and a natural aptitude for writing.” says Herman, who had been considering a career in medical writing after completing her degree. “I can be methodical in my thinking and have a knack for recognizing patterns and structuring information effectively. I really loved the science side of the nursing degree and with technical writing I can combine this love with writing.”

Herman chose Mount Royal’s program not only because of her familiarity with the university but because of the ease of fitting it into her life. “The courses were excellent and taking the program was so doable,” she explains. “I knew it was time to get a career going, so I jumped head-first into the program, and ended up getting this work experience out of it, which was mind-blowing.”

Mount Royal’s continuing education programs are taught by professionals working in their areas of expertise; this connection is evident with AVEVA Canada, whose relationship with Mount Royal led to the creation of the paid placement opportunity for a technical writing student.

Pearl Meyer, Research and Development Manager, Technical Writing and Localization at AVEVA’s Calgary-based office, hired Herman on contract as a result of a collaboration between the company and Mount Royal. 

A joint Technical Writing Advisory Committee meets to discuss the courses that are currently in the program and make recommendations around the content. They look at trends in the industry and the types of skills that are currently being sought after from candidates. Overall, they work to make sure that the students coming out of the program gain the skills that they need to be able to join the Technical Writing community after graduation. The board consists of program leads as well as people currently working in the industry to ensure that the program content is current.

“We’ve worked with several people who have gone through the Mount Royal program and we have a few contacts on the Technical Writing Advisory Committee like Sarah McKean, who is a Senior Manager - Technical Writing at AVEVA. She was a big driver for creating this relationship between Mount Royal and AVEVA, and that’s how the student opportunity came about.

We reached out to the university to see if this was something they’d be interested in and here we are! The candidates from Mount Royal were beyond outstanding. This is a wonderful opportunity for us as well.”

Herman is the first student to participate in this program, which Meyer says will continue to evolve in 2025.

Instructor Richard Metcalfe, who teaches in the Technical Writing Extension Certificate program, brought the work experience opportunity to Herman’s attention. “He remembered me, even a few months later, and I was really touched by that,” she says. 

“It made me feel empowered to know that I’d stood out. When I emailed him to thank him after getting the AVEVA job, he said the only reason he ever made it as a technical writer is because somebody took a chance on him. So I want to do the same thing whenever I can.”

Herman’s duties included refreshing and standardizing the language for many of the company’s policies and procedures. 

“Heather was a bit of a hero in our office,” tells Meyer. “She was everywhere. One of the biggest things she helped us with was our accessibility and our inclusive language efforts. She's been updating our documentation across product lines and participating in job shadowing initiatives.

She also did our editorial refreshes, which is a big deal for us right now, too. Heather’s really gotten in there, learned our style guide and made huge changes to our documentation so that everything looks the way it should. There is a lot of work and she has put a huge dent in it for us.”

For her part, Herman could not be happier with the experience she earned at AVEVA. Having previously worked remotely and in the restaurant industry, she had been apprehensive about starting her first corporate job. Working at AVEVA built her confidence and changed her outlook on working in the corporate world. 

“Everybody's taken me under their wing. Everybody's wanting to see me succeed. It's just been amazing.”

Courses for the Technical Writing Extension Certificate program are currently open for registration. Visit the program page to learn more.