Gene...certificate or certification? Some certificates I can get in the mail after a few hours online Certification would include, as part of its requirements, X years of OTJ experience.
What is the advantage, one over the other, between > So what is the value-added of a writer with OTJ > experience and a certificate vs a writer with OTJ experience > and no certificate? OTJ experience without certification could be 10 years of creating four-page inserts for toasters. I'm not demeaning that kind of writing, but would you want that writer to come to your shop and take over a long-term enterprise software project and staff of 10 where your company has millions of dollars at stake? What the certification tells you in this instance is that the person hs a familiarity with most of the needed requirements to which that person will be exposed. I'd never claim that you couldn't be a very good technical writer and not be certified. A certification would only be of use in a narrow range of applications. In fact, you probably wouldn't want a staff writer to be certified because you know that person doesn't want to crank out documentation day after day, just as someone with a CPA designation is not going to be happy procesing A/P invoices day after day. Certification is for the writer who wants to be brought into an environment that requires a wide range of skills. John Posada Senior Technical Writer "I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is." ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
