Solid communications skills, including good writing and the ability to translate complex concepts for the media and for readers and/or users, are essential. Corporate communicators also want bigger company experience and international experience, and the more consumer-focused firms also want folks with a consumer brand background. They are also more willing to hire a communicator without a tech background. “I can teach tech, but it is a lot harder to teach good creative communications,” says Lark.

Agency pros, on the other hand, say prior tech communications experience is essential. Heidi Sinclair, chair of the global technology practice at Burson-Marsteller in Los Angeles, says communicating about tech “requires a level of expertise a generalist wouldn’t have.”

Given the industry’s complexity, however, the paramount skill for agency and corporate pros alike is the ability to translate tech concepts into understandable prose.

And, once on board, communicators need to get up to speed. Fast. Most tech companies have in-house “universities” for employees, with optional and required on-line and real-time courses and seminars about their company’s products and services. EMC even puts its communications people through the same training program as its sales staff. “We get good cooperation from senior executives and technical experts because our people are up to speed,” says EMC’s Fredrickson. “It's refreshing for a reporter or analyst to get someone on the phone who has a pretty good chance of answering their questions, rather than just a facilitator.”

© 2004 Heyman Associates, Inc.