Re: Degrees

[Bob Johnson <bob -dot- johnson -at- CELERITYSOLUTIONS -dot- COM>]

Katav wondered about the true need for a degree when looking for work in
technical writing.  I think it depends on the size of the company and
the person doing the screening.  If it is a large enough company that it
has a dedicated HR department, my experience is that they're going to be
pretty persnickety about it.  The same goes for an HR person reviewing
the resume as opposed to a hiring manager.

I hold two degrees in history, plus an incomplete doctorate (ABD; off
topic, and besides, I won't write about that until they make the wires
out asbestos!)  I've written about technology from Bronze Age to the
Information Age, and just about every period between.  I've written
about naval and terrestrial architecture, agriculture, administration,
aviation, weaponry, communications, electronics, transportation, and
other things I can't remember.  Some of this work has been published,
some of it has been used internally by agencies of federal and state
government, and other work was communicated to the professional and
general public.  My resume reflected this background.

Yet I noticed when I was going to job fairs (since it's hard to get the
same kind of feedback from a help wanted ad) that the large companies
with HR people were interested in either a degree in English or a
certificate in technical writing.  None of them seemed capable of
conceiving that my background as a historian included extensive writing
experience, and that the experience would be beneficial to a technical
writer.  I always found a disctinct lack of enthusiasm for my resume, no
matter how effectively I presented myself.

When I went to smaller job fairs, or contacted smaller companies, I
found more openness and more flexibility.  I think this experience
reflects the fact that in smaller companies, especially those that don't
have a dedicated HR department, you are more likely to talk directly to
a hiring manager.

The upshot is, that I currently work for a small company as the sole
tech writer.  I found the job through a small job fair.

As for what I would look for, we recently looked at hiring another
writer, and the issue of qualifications was left in my hands.  In this
case the issue fell through.  If we did it again, my preference, given
our situation, would be for at least a bachelor's, in a field that
requires a lot of writing (English, OK, but how about philosophy?
political science? or the pot of gold, another history major?).  Why?
Because I know these fields teach people how to write, with all that
that entails, such as the ability to research and analyze.  And I know
that for a bachelor's, they've taken more classes and have more
experience with writing to fulfill an assignment.

A lot would still depend on the individual.  I wouldn't turn down
someone who had no degree but a lot of experience.  A lot also depends
on the writing the candidate can present to me. If they can show me
samples that demonstrate an ability to do what I see needing to be done
here, then they've taken a giant step forward.  On the other hand, if
their samples discuss the significance of the number of panes in windows
in the works of Boris Pasternak (don't laugh, I know someone who did a
paper on this), I'd be less impressed.  My experience has taught me to
look at what the writer produces, rather than which tickets they have
punched.  But that doesn't seem to be how HR works.

Of course, if you have sufficient experience, a degree SHOULDN'T matter
(not to say that it won't).

If you have a 30-some-odd-year-old degree, and plenty of experience in
the field, it should not be a problem.  If you're changing careers, that
can be a different matter, requiring different tactics.

All of which is to come back to that evergreen line on TECHWR-l, "It
depends!"

Bob Johnson
Documentation Specialist
Celerity Solutions
Dedham, MA

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