Re: Tasks versus Job Descriptions. Was: Certification vs Help f

[Lisa Higgins <lisarea -at- LUCENT -dot- COM>]

So then, Aileen Nelson is all like:

> I was in Human Resources for 2 years before switching to Writing and
> Testing.  I didn't hire a whole lot of tech writers, we hired mostly
> developers but the one person that I did, well I was forced into hiring
> him.  At the interview, his speech patterns were so bad that I
> immediately said "No".  However, they needed someone so they hired him.

Yow. OK. I have this synapse thingy that happens to me when I'm
talking sometimes. I use wildly inappropriate words. I forget words.
I can be hunting for the word 'straw' and say 'pen' instead, or
'blowy plastic articulated clown thingy.' I sometimes forget how a
sentence I've started was supposed to end. "I think we need to look
at this schedule because the ... hmmm. Yeah. Well." That sort of
thing. Seriously. I stutter sometimes, too. And Spoonerisms. Those
are my specialty. Call me a shining wit if you will, but I just don't
talk so good sometimes.

I don't have any of these problems with writing, though. As a matter
of fact, I don't know anyone who actually types the ummms and ahhs
and stutters and 'What is the word? Dang! The word! The word!' into
their documents, so I don't see the problem unless the person is so
inarticulate that they can't ask a clear question of their SMEs.

> But
> from what I can see of the industry, if your resume says "tech writer",
> then you must be a tech writer.

Well, yeah, and that can be really tough. But I don't see a quick fix
solution. C*rtification can only test certain things, and sure, it'd
eliminate some of the bad writers, but some will get through, and
what would that do to us? I know someone who hires network engineers.
He interviewed a guy who was a Microsoft Certified Network Engineer
once, and it turned out that the guy was a moron. Barely knew how to
turn on a computer. This guy now tosses resumes that list Microsoft
certifications.

I'm not saying that this is valid or justified, but it is a potential
problem; and writing ability is MUCH more difficult to measure than
knowledge of computer networks.

(Also, with some of the poor quality stuff I've seen come out of the
STC, I wouldn't trust them to develop a certification procedure.)

Lisa.
lisarea -at- lucent -dot- com

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=