RE: STC certification: how to do it

["Rick_Bishop" <rickbishop -at- austin -dot- rr -dot- com>]

Exactly. A certificate in ANY discipline does only one thing -- it weeds out
the definitely unqualified. It can't tell you if the guy will show up on
time for work, do anything once he arrives, or ever understand your
company's processes, much less follow them. I've met MCSEs that had trouble
plugging a server into a wall outlet (slight exaggeration).
We've all seen bad lawyers, teachers, plumbers, building contractors, etc. -
but they have a state certificate that says they have acquired the minimum
set of skills and knowledge required to do a minimally satisfactory job.
whether or not they will actually do a good job can't be measured: only
guessed at during the interview.

-----Original Message-----
From: Porrello, Leonard [mailto:lporrello -at- illumina -dot- com] 
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 11:23 AM
To: 'Rick_Bishop'; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: STC certification: how to do it

I like Rick's idea of a sort of bar exam for tech writers. While it wouldn't
prove that one can actually function competently as a tech writer, it would
go a long way to weeding out the incompetent, and as we have seen in this
thread, that is arguably as good as it gets. Along these lines, bar exams do
not ensure that someone will be a good lawyer and the United States Medical
Licensing Examination doesn't ensure that someone will be a good physician.

I wonder why the STC decided against this approach.

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+lporrello=illumina -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lporrello=illumina -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Rick_Bishop
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 6:37 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: STC certification: how to do it

A certification test that could satisfy most objections wouldn't be that
hard to create. I'm sure some of you have taken various Microsoft
certification tests, which are based on an old format: a very large pool of
questions. For example, you draw 3 questions at random from each 'topic
pool' of 30-50 questions. There are 10 topic pools for a total of 400
questions. Topics are spelling, grammar, punctuation, choose the correctly
rephrased sentence, active/passive voice, typography, apply formatting, etc
(just the basic TW skills). Topics are weighted simply by drawing 5
questions from one pool and 2 from another. The pools with the larger draw
are proportionately larger. You can't ask for original writing as that would
require human review, which is suspect. The person taking the test answers
30 questions or activities in an hour. If they get 75% correct, they get the
certificate. Testing the test tells you where to set the 'pass' line. Once
the basic TW cert is in place for a few years, broaden the scope to certify
writers for specific industries.
Rick


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