Re: Useful certifications in Tech Writing

["Chris Morton" <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I refer the inquirer back to the earlier thread this week, *How to I get
into this field?*

AFAIC, all you need to do is have a glimpse at O'Reilly's site (and the
adjunct Safari Books Online) to get a feel for what's hot in the market at
this time.

Any experience documenting APIs will *always* be useful, I think,along with
any white paper and proposal writing experience.

> Chris


On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:54 AM, Ronquillo, Michael <
mronquillo -at- equitrac -dot- com> wrote:

> I guess I'm interested with adding some certs to my name so I can market
> myself better and stand out from the rest. I agree taking a broader
> approach is good, but I want to add some extra letters to my name :).
>
> At any rate, along with web design, Hats, and basic programming, what
> are some good topics to learn about that are useful in Technical
> Writing?
>
> Oh, I have a bout 3 years into this field.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+mronquillo=equitrac -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mronquillo <techwr-l-bounces%2Bmronquillo>=
> equitrac -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Erica
> Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 2:46 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: Useful certifications in Tech Writing
>
> Personally, I am very skeptical of A+ for anyone. Most of my friends are
> long-time techs and will tell you A+ is a waste of time. The only ones I
> know who seem to think it's worth the effort are cable installers and
> those
> who have to take it to build computers in retail chains like Best Buy,
> where
> all they do is install Windows and run anti-virus software. More people
> than
> ever are just taking their computer into a retail chain rather than
> learning
> how to fix it, and how many manuals need to be written on how to load
> Windows, build a computer, or install a network? When companies want
> service
> techs for their servers, they want MCSE's and Linux experience.
>
> You've offered a really open question though, so I'm not sure if
> anything I
> could suggest would apply. Are you a beginner, have you had a decade of
> experience? What are you writing for - software, electronics,
> engineering,
> medical products, financial systems?
>
> I'm fairly new to the field, so I prefer to take a broader scope rather
> than
> specializing in one thing. Getting an overview of programming structures
> or
> financial systems is more applicable anywhere, offering a grounding in
> terminology and experience that can be applied to specific companies. I
> have
> found these infinitely more helpful because they reduce the time needed
> to
> train me in particular systems. Since I already know the basics of how
> programming works I can easily write about .Net or C+ software, and
> translate it for developers or end users. I can write the developer
> documentation and the user's CHM. With a background in web and graphics
> design I can easily design a sharp looking CHM theme, manually modify it
> in
> HTML, and design all the icons and graphics to go in it along with
> helping
> to improve the interface of the software I'm actually writing about.
>
> I think if anything, my tech writing experience has suggested we need to
> have a broad scope of various elements of design and programming,
> audience
> analysis, document design, outlining, and different help authoring
> systems,
> so we remain flexible. When I'm ready for more courses I'm going into
> XML
> and DITA and getting experience with single-sourcing environments, and
> perhaps .Net. But I like to write for software and web interfaces, so
> maybe
> I'm off base.
>
> I'll be interested to see what everyone else has to add.
>
> Cheers,
> Erica
>
> On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 2:11 PM, Ronquillo, Michael
> <mronquillo -at- equitrac -dot- com
> > wrote:
>
> > Anyone know any useful certs for Tech Writing? I'm thinking of taking
> > the CompTIA A+ cert.
> >
> >
> >
> > Michael Ronquillo
> >
> > Technical Writer - Equitrac
> >
> > 1-800-472-9532 x2334
> >
> > mronquillo -at- equitrac -dot- com
> >
> >
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