Certification vs curriculum

[Karen Kay <karenkay -at- CADENCE -dot- COM>]

Richard Mateosian wrote:
>>When I was first thinking about changing careers, I would have
>>been grateful to have a test to pass. I think certification would
>>have made the process of changing careers a lot easier and a lot
>>more focused.

>It sounds like you would have appreciated a curriculum, or some such
>guidance in what to study. This is different from and much more benign than
>certification.  ...RM

No, you misunderstand me. When I was looking to change careers, my
writing skills were better than they are now (because I was writing
more), and my technical knowledge was so-so. What certification would
have done was allow me to start working right away instead of having
to prove my earnestness by mucking around w/ translation (which is
fine, but not what I wanted to do) and teeny very-short-term
contracts. And that's really all I proved, that I was serious about
changing careers. I learned a lot, but it's the kind of stuff that I
would also have learned at any job, and I would have had to spend less
time worrying about where I was going to find money to eat and pay my
rent. At least that's my take on things. Certification would be a boon
to those who are trying to change careers.

I got guidance about what to study from techwr-l, and from friends who
are writers. Mostly it was a matter of making myself more technical.
The irony of this is, of course, that I'm now in a job that makes use
of stuff that I learned on my own when I was in grad school, not of
any of the stuff I learned when I was making myself more technical. Oh
well!

Karen
  karenk -at- netcom -dot- com