Re: Certification vs curriculum

Subject: Re: Certification vs curriculum
From: Richard Mateosian <srm -at- C2 -dot- ORG>
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1995 12:51:43 -0800

>No, you misunderstand me. When I was looking to change careers, my
>writing skills were better than they are now (because I was writing
>more), and my technical knowledge was so-so. What certification would
>have done was allow me to start working right away

This assumes that:

1. Because you were a good writer, you would have obtained
certification.

2. This certification would have overcome whatever reservations
people had about hiring you.

The first of these points illustrates the different views we all have about
the subject. I'm sure many on this list would agree that good writing is
only one of many criteria that should be evaluated in a certification program.

The second point illustrates the hope, which I think is far-fetched, but
which many certification advocates have demonstrated an implicit faith in,
that we can replace the current largely arbitrary hiring system with an
automatic one that will guarantee us jobs.

I'm not rabidly anti-certification, but I certainly see a lot of problems
with it. ...RM

Richard Mateosian http://www.c2.org/~srm/ President, Berkeley STC
Freelance Technical Writer srm -at- c2 -dot- org Review Editor, IEEE Micro


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