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David Ibbetson (who's not as much of an idiot as he would have us
believe...<g>) wrote:
>I used to belong to the British Computer Society. There was no
>particular test for Student or Associate members, but to be a
>Fellow, one required both academic qualifications and practical
>experience.
To a certain extent, this is what being a "senior member" of the STC
was (I believe) intended to accomplish. You "achieve" such status by
staying a member for five years. OK.. not a lot of work is required
to do this, but it's a start. "Fellowship" requires recognition for
your contributions to the field and to the Society (politics, as much
as anything else). Again, not a terribly high or appropriate bar, but
still, it's a start.
I'm in favour of certification. I suspect that a better analogy than
car mechanics *might* be architects or industrial designers,
but I also might be merely reflecting my knowledge biases. :-)
Will certification change anything for us already in the field? Probably not.
Will it change things in the future? Yes, and probably make things better.
Do I have any hard evidence for this? Not at the moment.
Grant
=====================================
Grant Hogarth, Information Developer
Onyx Graphics Corp. Midvale, UT
www.onyxgfx.com ftp.onyxgfx.com
#include <std_disclaim>
"People forget how fast you did a job --
they remember how well you did it."
-- Howard W. Newton
