Re: Become a tech writer in only 70 hours

[Max Wyss <prodok -at- PRODOK -dot- CH>]

George,

As it has been noted some time ago on this list, there are about as many
different ideas of what a technical writer is and what to expect from a
technical writer, as there are opportunities for a technical writer, it is
_very_ difficult to set up a "test".

And if it would be reasonable and possible, who should hold the test, and
who should lead the registry? An univeristy? A government office? A
professional organization?

Translation organizations do have the "accreditation". The accreditation is
needed to become a full voting member of the organization. The
accreditation process is essentially a test, to be written in classroom
atmosphere, and corrected by dedicated staff for that particular language
combination.

Getting back to the diverging perceptions of the profession "technical
writer", this may be the cause for any kind of "become a technical writer
in ... hours" schemes. The result may be something like (sorry for the
German; but it cannot be translated so that the finesse can get through)
"For sex Wochen wuste ich nicht wie man Intscheniör schreibt, heute bin ich
einen".


Max Wyss
PRODOK Engineering AG
Technical documentation and translations, Electronic Publishing
CH-8906 Bonstetten, Switzerland

Phone:  +41 1 700 29 21
Fax:  +41 1 700 20 37
e-mail:  mailto:prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch    or    100012 -dot- 44 -at- compuserve -dot- com


Bridging the Knowledge Gap ...

... for belt drive designers at

     http://www.prodok.ch/prodok/riemen.html




_______________



>Bob,
>
<snip><snip>
>
>This falls into the rather ignorant contention that someone on this list
>once made in saying that "Anyone can write."  That is, in my
>professional opinion, emphatically NOT TRUE!!!  Some time ago, I posted
>something I called "food for thought" in ensuring the professional
>standards for technical writers remained as high as possible.  This was
>the case for the Registered Technical Writer, just like we have
>Registered Professional Engineers, properly licensed by the various
>states' Labor Departments (in California, it's via the Division of
>Apprenticeship Standards, governed by the Department of Industrial
>Relations.).
>
>Testing for the professional license would be patterned after the
>Fundamentals of Engineering / Engineer-In-Training exam that many
>engineers of various disciplines must take in order to remain
>professionally credentialed.  Right now, even the four-year schools, to
>the best of my knowledge, don't prepare their students for that.  I
>think they should.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with testing
>Registered Technical Writer candidates on fundamentals of operating
>systems, fundamentals of programming languages, fundamentals of
>mechanical engineering or fundamentals of digital electronics and
>microprocessors, *especially* if these candidates want to get into these
>fields -- and especially if they already have several years of industry
>experience!
>
>Next. :D
>
>George Mena