Quote Originally Posted by gomipile View Post
Hmmm. I just searched for "document specialist" on some job boards, and the only jobs with that title were for making sure a stack of boilerplate contracts and releases get signed at car dealerships, HR, employment agencies, etc.
So the issue you're gonna run into is that pure research positions are...rare. And they're gonna primarily be for people who are highly educated, and highly specialized in some very technical field.

The vast majority of roles that require research are going to be people who do their own research to accomplish some specific purpose. As an example, I am a Technical Writer. I research systems and processes, then document them. I am also typically in charge of determining storage and managing knowledgebases such as SharePoint based sites. So primarily a specialized content writing position with heavy emphasis on direct research and interviewing SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), with light webmaster duties.

A "document specialist" would theoretically be someone who worked with me to help procure information. However, that would only be something done for VERY large projects where I'm juggling too many balls at once to make it feasible to just go and figure out this stuff for myself. I have never come across this scenario in the real world.

Similar roles in IT exist, like Business Analysts or Systems Analysts, Reports Writers, even Project Managers, all of whom are usually the SMEs I am interviewing...but it's very rare you're ever going to find a role in a practical business that is going to be primarily research as the focus and very little practical done with said research directly by the employee doing said research.

A document specialist would be an entry level position (the only time I ever served in such a role was as a part-time job working for my college while attending) where you kinda learn the ropes of what you'd be doing for one of those more advanced positions. It is not going to be glamorous or very intellectually fulfilling work. It's the documentation equivalent of digging ditches, frankly, but it might get your foot in the door especially if you can prove ability to then properly summarize and write white papers and whatnot on stuff, you can parley that into better work.