Practical work experience

[Kathleen Frost <kfrost -at- BTSQUARED -dot- COM>]

Just wanted to comment on my personal experience in the degree/no degree
controversy, then I'll be quiet and go back to my real work for the day.  I
have a manual to revise.

I have a degree, but it was a BA in Biology (1969) but never used it.  It
certainly doesn't apply to getting a job for me today and is relegated to a
very minor note at the bottom of my resume, if I bother to include it at
all.  After 13 years as a wife and mother, I found myself divorced and
working at a McDonald's.  Fortunately, I had written and sold 5 articles.
I first got a job at a nuclear power plant writing training materials, then
moved to Atlanta and worked up to software and hardware manuals.  Now, I'm
the only writer in a small, fast-growning company doing all doc for four
software products: online help, user doc, training, release notes, some QA,
and general involvement in design of systems.  I'll soon have two writers
working for me.

I admire anyone who had the discipline to get a degree, especially if they
are trying to earn a living at the same time.  At the moment, I have a
22-year-old living at home and going to college, and I have custody of
oldest daughter's five-year-old.  As it is, I have to take advantage of the
flexibility of working for a small firm that allows me to work at home when
necessary.   With my life style and obligations, I'd never have time for
school even if I found it necessary.  With the work load of most writers I
know, I don't see how anyone finds the time.

So, at the moment, I don't have a degree in Tech. Communications and
probably will never get around to it.  Fortunately, after nearly 11 years
in the field, I now have enough practical experience with well-known or
Fortune 500 companies that I no longer need that kind of proof that I can
do my job.  The only TC courses offered in the Atlanta area when I arrived
10 years ago was a joke.  It consisted of 5 courses in a certificate
program, that included duds like a "Technical Editing" course taught by a
retired high school English teacher with only literary examples.  As my
daughter is finding out in her college, too many professors have taught for
so long, they are out of touch with the real working world and don't teach
enough practical skills to be of any use to someone who wants the education
to do a job.  I've taken in-house courses at places where I've worked, some
other related courses on my own, and a couple courses at a local technical
school.  I haven't learned anything in these supposedly "technical writing"
courses that I hadn't already learned hands-on at work.  Granted, I worked
as a programmer for two-years (self-taught) and that increased my skills
for software documentation, but I work too many hours and have a family.  I
have to have some kind of home life.  I just can't afford the time to get a
degree that, at this point, wouldn't increase my actual on the job skills.

My final comment on the degree/no degree conflict is simply that when I
interview someone, I'm looking for practical skills, good samples, a
willingness to learn, a track record of good work habits, a team player who
can take an assignment and do the job without close supervision, and
someone who can fit into our particular casual but extremely fast-paced
company.  Degrees don't mean much to me if they aren't coupled with good
old common sense.  Those businesses that require fancy, expensive degrees
lose out on some highly skilled, experienced people.  Companies who are
that narrow-minded are only hurting themselves.

Kathy Frost
KFrost -at- BTSquared -dot- com
As always, I am speaking for myself, not necessarily for BTSquared.

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