RE: Certification: Ernest and Scribbler

[Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Mr. Jong, I will thank you to refrain from misquoting me. If you are indeed a professional writer, then I find it very difficult - no, almost impossible - to accept the idea that your gross mischaracterization of my words could be accidental. I am proud to admit that I expressed many misgivings and opposing views, but I made no accusations of any kind. I challenge you to quote any writing of mine in which I accused you or anyone else of "immoral" or "unethical" actions. 

You owe me an apology for distorting my words.

If your mischaracterization of my posts is indeed accidental, if you have seen words in my posts which I did not write, then perhaps you should rethink your belief that you are qualified to set up some mechanism for judging the abilities of others. You have my sympathies for your problem with seeing words that aren't there.

What saddens me is the thought that a person who is supposed to be a professional communicator who claims to be interested in the good of the profession could possibly sink, accidentally or not, to the level of distorting an opponent's position through misrepresentation. I expect that from politicians, not from people who are supposed to be in a profession that values accuracy.



--- On Mon, 7/19/10, Steven Jong <stevefjong -at- comcast -dot- net> wrote:

From: Steven Jong <stevefjong -at- comcast -dot- net>
Subject: RE: Certification: Ernest and Scribbler
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Cc: "Steven Jong" <stevefjong -at- comcast -dot- net>
Date: Monday, July 19, 2010, 2:21 PM




I'm on digest, so I'm going to respond to a number of replies to my topic in this (lengthy) post. First, thanks for your responses! They are valuable. I note that the doc managers get the idea of Ernest and Scribbler immediately, and can readily extend the list I put together. 





Jason A. Czekalski wrote, in part: 



All I see here is an attempt to create a monoploy... Academics who have never written a real procedure in their life will be setting the standards. Those standards will be like the questions on the bar: only tangentally related to the field. I have a real problem with the STC's involvement in this. Like the ABA and state bar associations, they have a vested interest in maintaining a monopoly. They need to create an artificial shortage in order to drive up prices. 

This is not an attempt to create a monopoly, which is illegal in the US anyway. Actually, the first principle of the certification program is that certification is not required for STC membership, and membership is not required for certification. The standards are being set by a mix of people, of whom academics are only a part. (I am not an academic: I've been a working writer for over 30 years.) And it is not necessary to create an artifical shortage to drive up prices--or wages inÂthis case. The certification value propositionÂinvolves reducingÂcosts to employers of certified practitioners, which increases competition for their services. 





Milan Davidovic asked: 



We might also be interested in the methodology for identifying the attributes. Got anything to share on that? 

The methodology is TBD; we know the areas of practice, which are looking pretty solid pending further validation. Ernest and Scribbler are actually an attempt to gether more information of those attributes 8^) The general statement of the problem is: Given the areas of practice, how can we determine whether an applicant for certification is proficient in them, using some combination of samples, work artifacts, descriptions of activities, or other means? 



Milan later asked: 



If we haven't settled on what those attributes are, how did we already decide that we're going to use portfolios to assess them? 

We selected performance-based (packet) assessment rather than knowledge-based (test) examination for a number of reasons, none having to do with attributes. Performance-based assessment involves something like a portfolio, which experienced practitioners already have, rather than passing a test, which favors recent graduates (and which experienced people seem to hate and fear); it doesn't require a body of knowledge, which isn't fleshed out yet;Âit is already validated through our publications competitions, wheras validating an exam takes time and money; and fees can be shared withÂevaluators (us) rather than a third-party testing agency. 





Bill Swallow rewrote my pairings to make the contrast greater. When I wrote them, I was trying to make the answers somewhat ambiguous, erroneously thinking of them as exam questions.ÂBy the responses, I succeeded 8^)ÂI like Bill's formulations better. 





Karen L. Zorn wrote: 



My problem with this is that it seems software centric and targeted to a writer working as a captured employee or in a tw group. 

Good point, Karen. Can you think of any good/bad pairings that are less software- and group- centric? We'd love to see them! 





Keith Hood wrote several responses, colored by his personal situation as a jobseeker, that saddened me to read. I want to correct one statement of fact and make one point. First, Keith wrote, in part: 



I don't want the STC or anyone else doing something that may affect my chances of finding another job for reasons that I don't agree with, that they didn't ask me about, that I had no input on, and that are arguable at best. 

In undertaking certification we knew that not everyone would agree, but the majority of STC members have supported the idea in every general survey taken over the last 35 years. Ultimately, the people who gave their approval were on the Board of Directors. (I was a Board member at the time.) As for input, I am asking for input, and I'm getting it, from Keith and from others, through this topic and in other ways. 



As for affecting someone's chances to get a job, I'm sorry thatÂKeith feels what we're doing is unethical and immoral, but I don't accept his logic and IÂhave to turn his point around. Is it unethical or immoral for Keith (or anyone else)Âto do something that ENHANCES his chance to get a job? If he sharpens his resume, or takes a pertinent tools class, or obtains certification, he presumably increases his chance of getting a job; that necessarily reduces everyone else's chance of getting that same job. Is that unethical or immoral? And is a resume-writing service, or a tools training firm, or a certifying body unethical and immoral for making those opportunities available? STC has offered resume-writing and tools classes for many years; have we been unethical and immoral all along? 



I don't think so. Certification, like resume sharpening and tools classes, is an opportunity to IMPROVE your chances of getting a job. 





Finally (for now!), Suzette Leeming, who is a doc manager, asked: 



If I were a hiring manager, I would take experience & proven results over certification, any day. So, from both perspectives it appears the certification would not add value, so then what would the benefit of being certified? ... If I'm missing something, would someone please enlighten me? 

I think the position of project management as a profession 20 years ago closely parallels our own; but unlike us, PMI, the Project Management Institute, did something about it backÂthen. The book _PMP Certification For Dummies_ (Nathan and Jones, 2003) includes a powerful answer toÂSuzette's question: 



Not so long ago, anyone who could create a simple Gantt chart with Microsoft Project called himself a project manager. These were typically project leads, or senior programmers, for small- to medium-sized development teams. Most of these âproject managersâ had little practical experience in projects and practically no formal PM methodologies. Theyâre called accidental project managers. When the dot-com bubble burst, their resumes poured into human resources (HR) departments. How could an HR staffer know the difference between a battle-scarred project manager with hard-won PM experience and an accidental project manager with a similar title and no real experience? The answer is that HR recruiters couldnât tell the difference. Nor could the actual hiring managers make the distinction. The accidental project managers flooded the IT market, and corporations were swift to take advantage. Employers dropped the rates they were willing to pay for project
 managersâ salaries by 25 to 45 percent. 



The best way to distinguish yourself from the growing list of project managers is to become a certified Project Management Professional â the coveted PMP designation. According to recent salary surveys, achieving PMP certification brings an average salary increase of 8 percent across all industries â as high as 14 percent for IT managers. To employers who hope their projects arenât among the 83 percent that fail, PMP certification is now a preferred risk-reduction tool for screening job seekers and making promotion decisions. 





The best way to distinguish yourself from the growing list of project managers is to become a certified Project Management Professional â the coveted PMP designation. According to recent salary surveys, achieving PMP certification brings an average salary increase of 8 percent across all industries â as high as 14 percent for IT managers. To employers who hope their projects arenât among the 83 percent that fail, PMP certification is now a preferred risk-reduction tool for screening job seekers and making promotion decisions. couldnât tell the difference. Nor could the actual hiring managers make the distinction. The accidental project managers flooded the IT market, and corporations were swift to take advantage. Employers dropped the rates they were willing to pay for project managersâ salaries by 25 to 45 percent. 



The best way to distinguish yourself from the growing list of project managers is to become a certified Project Management Professional â the coveted PMP designation. According to recent salary surveys, achieving PMP certification brings an average salary increase of 8 percent across all industries â as high as 14 percent for IT managers. To employers who hope their projects arenât among the 83 percent that fail, PMP certification is now a preferred risk-reduction tool for screening job seekers and making promotion decisions. 




-- Steve 


Steven Jong 
Chairman, STC Certification Committee 
Direct: +1 (978) 413-2553 
SteveFJong -at- comcast -dot- net 

Good point, Karen. Can you think of any good/bad pairings that are less software- and group- centric? We'd love to see them! 





Keith Hood wrote several responses, colored by his personal situation as a jobseeker, that saddened me to read. I want to correct one statement of fact and make one point. First, Keith wrote, in part: 



I don't want the STC or anyone else doing something that may affect my chances of finding another job for reasons that I don't agree with, that they didn't ask me about, that I had no input on, and that are arguable at best. 

In undertaking certification we knew that not everyone would agree, but the majority of STC members have supported the idea in every general survey taken over the last 35 years. Ultimately, the people who gave their approval were on the Board of Directors. (I was a Board member at the time.) As for input, I am asking for input, and I'm getting it, from Keith and from others, through this topic and in other ways. 



As for affecting someone's chances to get a job, I'm sorry thatÂKeith feels what we're doing is unethical and immoral, but I don't accept his logic and IÂhave to turn his point around. Is it unethical or immoral for Keith (or anyone else)Âto do something that ENHANCES his chance to get a job? If he sharpens his resume, or takes a pertinent tools class, or obtains certification, he presumably increases his chance of getting a job; that necessarily reduces everyone else's chance of getting that same job. Is that unethical or immoral? And is a resume-writing service, or a tools training firm, or a certifying body unethical and immoral for making those opportunities available? STC has offered resume-writing and tools classes for many years; have we been unethical and immoral all along? 



I don't think so. Certification, like resume sharpening and tools classes, is an opportunity to IMPROVE your chances of getting a job. 





Finally (for now!), Suzette Leeming, who is a doc manager, asked: 



If I were a hiring manager, I would take experience & proven results over certification, any day. So, from both perspectives it appears the certification would not add value, so then what would the benefit of being certified? ... If I'm missing something, would someone please enlighten me? 

I think the position of project management as a profession 20 years ago closely parallels our own; but unlike us, PMI, the Project Management Institute, did something about it backÂthen. The book _PMP Certification For Dummies_ (Nathan and Jones, 2003) includes a powerful answer toÂSuzette's question: 



Not so long ago, anyone who could create a simple Gantt chart with Microsoft Project called himself a project manager. These were typically project leads, or senior programmers, for small- to medium-sized development teams. Most of these âproject managersâ had little practical experience in projects and practically no formal PM methodologies. Theyâre called accidental project managers. When the dot-com bubble burst, their resumes poured into human resources (HR) departments. How could an HR staffer know the difference between a battle-scarred project manager with hard-won PM experience and an accidental project manager with a similar title and no real experience? The answer is that HR recruiters couldnât tell the difference. Nor could the actual hiring managers make the distinction. The accidental project managers flooded the IT market, and corporations were swift to take advantage. Employers dropped the rates they were willing to pay for project
 managersâ salaries by 25 to 45 percent. 



The best way to distinguish yourself from the growing list of project managers is to become a certified Project Management Professional â the coveted PMP designation. According to recent salary surveys, achieving PMP certification brings an average salary increase of 8 percent across all industries â as high as 14 percent for IT managers. To employers who hope their projects arenât among the 83 percent that fail, PMP certification is now a preferred risk-reduction tool for screening job seekers and making promotion decisions. 





The best way to distinguish yourself from the growing list of project managers is to become a certified Project Management Professional â the coveted PMP designation. According to recent salary surveys, achieving PMP certification brings an average salary increase of 8 percent across all industries â as high as 14 percent for IT managers. To employers who hope their projects arenât among the 83 percent that fail, PMP certification is now a preferred risk-reduction tool for screening job seekers and making promotion decisions. couldnât tell the difference. Nor could the actual hiring managers make the distinction. The accidental project managers flooded the IT market, and corporations were swift to take advantage. Employers dropped the rates they were willing to pay for project managersâ salaries by 25 to 45 percent. 



The best way to distinguish yourself from the growing list of project managers is to become a certified Project Management Professional â the coveted PMP designation. According to recent salary surveys, achieving PMP certification brings an average salary increase of 8 percent across all industries â as high as 14 percent for IT managers. To employers who hope their projects arenât among the 83 percent that fail, PMP certification is now a preferred risk-reduction tool for screening job seekers and making promotion decisions. 




-- Steve 


Steven Jong 
Chairman, STC Certification Committee 
Direct: +1 (978) 413-2553 
SteveFJong -at- comcast -dot- net
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