Re: Become a tech writer in only 70 hours

[George Mena <George -dot- Mena -at- ESSTECH -dot- COM>]

Have the same folks who handle these issues for engineers handle it for
TWs, Max.

Sorry to be so late in responding: thought I'd get some work done. :D

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Max Wyss [SMTP:prodok -at- PRODOK -dot- CH]
> Sent: Friday, June 12, 1998 11:34 AM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Re: Become a tech writer in only 70 hours
>
> 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 Intscheni=F6r schreibt, heute
> bin ic=
> h
> einen".
>
>
> Max Wyss
> PRODOK Engineering AG
> Technical documentation and translations, Electronic Publishing
> CH-8906 Bonstetten, Switzerland
>
> Phone:  +41 1 700 29 21
> =46ax:  +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 ...
>
> =2E.. 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
>
>
> &^~~~
> Send commands to listserv -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu (e.g., SIGNOFF
> TECHWR-L)