Re: Hostility towards STC

Subject: Re: Hostility towards STC
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 19:27:59 -0700


kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com wrote:

I think our own skills and ambitions do a nice job of dictating what kind
of jobs we can get, and how far we go - at least that's been my
observation thus far.
Let me play devil's advocate here.

If you are certified, it can become a useful job search tool. If you're a certified as a master carpenter, you don't have to prove your skills - just listing your certification proves your worth.

Similarly, if you are hiring, you could specify an intermediate technical writer, and immediately eliminate anyone without that certification.

Yes, we could put students through the wringer and make them learn a wide
base of skills. But many of those skills will become outdated within
years.
I'm not sure what skills would be outdated? I can't think of any skills I've learned in the last eight years that are outdated, except possibly specific tools. even though I haven't used WordPerfect for years, what I learned while using it is still transferable to other word processors.

However, if any other skills might become outdate, perhaps certification would require periodic renewal?

I'm probably prejudiced. Tech writing saved my life, BECAUSE I was able to
enter into the job without a specific pedigree. So I guess I'll always be
thankful for that, and defensive of that aspect of the profession: tech
writing will let *anybody* in.

Me, too. When asked why I started tech writing, I sometimes answer, "Because I was an English major, and I was getting too old for flogging my aging body on the street to be an alternative." Still, if I could have been certified, maybe my first eight months in the profession would have been easier.

--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield

"And if you think the pen is mightier than the gun,
I tell you, friend, that you're dreaming
'Cuz the countdown has begun;
We're having fun
Down on Airstrip One."
- Attila the Stockbroker



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