TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
IMO, in most any market, the primary value of a certificate for someone
who is a longtime professional with good work experience and references
is to get a foot in the door of potential employers or clients who are
inexperienced with hiring writers and lack confidence in their ability
to recognze qualified candidates. That's the certificate, not
necessarily the study that goes into getting one. Continuing education
never hurts, and my guess is that even the most seasoned person will
learn or renew some useful skill from most any class.
In the current market, I would rank specialized technical or product
knowledge and the willingness to undercut the competition as the two
most influential aspects of a candidate's qualifications. There is
almost nobody out there willing to do OTJ training for newbies right
now.
Gene Kim-Eng
----- Original Message -----
From: "Keith Hood" <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>
You mean like a DBA who gets a tech writing certificate to look for work
as a TW? In a case like that the certificate would probably be
automatically more valuable. But still I think it's going to depend
heavily on the local market. What's true in Seattle where there's lots
of overqualified candidates to choose from may not be true in Omaha.
Frankly, considering the state of the job market as I know of it, at
this point I think any kind of paper is going to be of way less value
than any school will tell you it is, or any job seeker will hope it is.
All the major employers have been scaling back and shedding employees
left and right, and there aren't as many startups going. At the same
time companies are pressing the government to expand the H1B visa
program. I think at this point, any kind of certificate/degree in the
hands of candidate A will carry much less weight in the minds of hiring
managers than the knowledge that candidate B will accept a much lower
pay rate. But, you have to remember that I am apparently this list's
more or less official cynical curmudgeon.
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
