Technical Writing Certifications

[Beth Agnew]

It would be a worthy goal, but certification in many fields is 
complicated by the very issues that have kept us "uncertified" for so 
long. No need to rehash all the arguments, but it's true that the 
quality component of any certification is always problematic. Who 
defines what is "quality"? Hours alone won't do it. Examinations alone 
won't do it. Degrees can't even do it. Certification is no guarantee of 
quality. I have worked a variety of "certified" professionals over many 
years to whom quality was a foreign concept. Yet they had paid their 
money, jumped through some administrative hoops, spent the requisite 
hours, taken the training, and proudly framed the certificate. I agree 
with Peter.
--Beth

stevefjong at comcast.net wrote:
>      Peter Neilson wrote, "People who write crap can get certifications," which is an interesting argument.
>      A *certificate* you can perhaps get. You can get a certificate for sitting through, say, a one-day workshop on "writing with punch." However, the requirements for *certification* are usually much more demanding. For example, the Project Management Institute's certification requires a master's degree, passing an examination, and 4,500 hours of work in the field.
>      If technical writing certification had similar requirements, how would you propose getting through the two years by writing crap?
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