Re: STC Certification

[Daniel Friedman <daniel -dot- friedman42 -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I feel like this thread has gone extremely negative on the STC
certification. It would be nice to present what you guys think are some
good alternatives for someone new to the technical writing field or someone
looking to make an upwards career move.

FWIW, I think the main problem with the STC certification is that it is a
general technical writing certificate, when most employers are looking for
someone with (at least some) domain-specific knowledge.

Someone starting out would probably be better served spending their time
building portfolio pieces through school or by volunteering time to a
non-profit or open-source projects on github.

If certification was to be pursued, it might be better to go for certs in
specific subject-domains relevant to the industries that you are trying to
break into. For example, in IT it would show a good baseline of knowledge
to get the COMPTIA A+ or the entry level Microsoft MCSE: Desktop
Infastructure cert. I am not familiar with other industries, but I am sure
there are similar courses/certifications for
healthcare/finance/government/etc.

On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 8:26 AM, Dan Goldstein <DGoldstein -at- nuot -dot- com> wrote:

> It means that to be a technical writer, you need to be able to write; but
> to be a technical communicator, all you need is a certificate.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rebecca Officer
> Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 10:44 PM
> To: TECHWR-L Writing
> Subject: RE: STC Certification
>
> The first sentence of the textbook's description starts "Technical
> Communication Today remains the only text to fully centralize the computer
> in the technical workplace ..."
>
> What the heck is that supposed to mean??
>
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-- 
*Daniel Friedman*
*friedmantechpublications.com* <http://friedmantechpublications.com>
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