Re: Oh no...not another newbie!

Subject: Re: Oh no...not another newbie!
From: Katav <katav -at- YAHOO -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 5 Apr 1999 05:22:25 -0700

First, this is NOT intended as a flame of Mr. Gardner.

Here is a lad "with infinite theoretical (but
relatively little empirical) knowledge" who has
"already landed a terrific job with a worldwide HW/SW
developer and producer" based, one presumes, on his
soon-to-be-awarded MA-TW.

Two things bother me about the post.

Thing 1: At the MA (I'm screaming here) level, our TW
wanna-be has both "infinite theoretical ... knowledge"
(scary thought ... "infinite theoretical") with
"relatively little empirical knowledge." How is it
that a person is awarded a bachelor's - let alone a
MASTERS - sans experience - OJT, internship, etc. I
came to TWing from newspapering and the Florida school
in Gainesville that offers J courses has a long
history of internship requirement-to-graduate (with a
bachelor's). Most of the grads with a J degree from
that school are ready to work from Day 1.

Perhaps I am way out in left field (again), but to my
Winnie-the-Pooh mentality, it seems logical that a
person should have SOME experience in a discipline
BEFORE undertaking a master's program (in that
discipline).

Thing 2: Our almost-MA has "already landed a terrific
job with a worldwide HW/SW developer and producer" and
while I am happy for him, I wonder what the employer
expects of him ... I hope the expectations are
realistic. High expectations based on an MA will harm
both the employer AND the employee. (Can an MA-TW find
happiness as a junior writer?)

Let me repeat that this is NOT a flame of Mr. Gardner;
indeed, it is not a flame of either B* or M* -- or
even PhD* candidates/degree holders. Mr. Gardner may
have excellent credentials, and certainly is to be
commended for asking guidance from the list (albeit
belatedly ... colleges and universities with TW
programs ought to be made aware of this and similar
lists & encourage their students to [at least] lurk).

My suggestion is that any of us with influence with
any school of higher ed use that influence to push for
more 'real world' exposure to the professions before
graduation.

(BTW, I am responding to Mr. Gardner off-list with
some suggestions he might find useful.)

--- "Richard C. Gardner" <rgardner -at- INTRCOM -dot- COM> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> Two, I am one month away from finishing my M.A. in
Technical Writing and have already landed a terrific
job with a worldwide HW/SW developer and producer.
Any advice for someone with infinite theoretical (but
relatively little empirical) knowledge? Any words of
wisdom


===
Katav ( katav -at- yahoo -dot- com )
''Despise not any person and do not deem anything unworthy
of consideration, for there is no person without his hour,
and no thing without its place'' {Ben Azzai [Avot 4:2]}

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