Technical Writing Certifications

[Pinkham, Jim]

Indeed, every editor does, but there's certainly no standard version,
and speaking from experience, they range from the sublime to the
ridiculous. 

If structured to demonstrate that the candidate knows and can do the job
the employer needs to fill, do it profitably, and do it the way the
employer wants it done, they have real value. If they don't call on the
candidate to use and demonstrate his or her experience realistically and
meaningfully -- with at least a fairly representative sample of the
tools and resources and obstacles likely to be encountered on the job --
they really don't measure much of value. 

It's probably worth suggesting, too, that there's only a certain amount
of this that would transfer over in any standardized test. A significant
chunk of the test would have to gauge how the candidate would work
within the unique parameters and conditions of the job in question.

Jim


-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jim.pinkham=voith.com at lists.techwr-l.com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim.pinkham=voith.com at lists.techwr-l.com] On
Behalf Of Dori Green
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 9:02 AM
To: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: RE: Technical Writing Certifications

Peter Neilson wrote:

Any newspaper editor has a test for would-be reporters or stringers.

********************

Surely there's some way that STC could start with that test to qualify
technical writers, or make the test available to employers.  Of course
we would not plagiarize it.

Dori Green
Student of Lobachevsky & Lehrer

"...let no one else's work evade your eyes, So plagiarize but always
please to call it 'research'."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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