RE: Online certification?

["Al Geist" <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>]

Jason Roeder wrote: 

"I'm a writer/editor who's interested in transitioning into technical
writing. I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in
journalism. I've been working as a writer/editor for about a decade in
higher education, nothing very technical at all. In other words, I have the
writing chops, but my technical skills are a little soft. I'm considering
undertaking an online certificate program."


And what will your "certification" be in....software, hardware,
pharmaceutical, medical equipment, transportation, mining, energy,
aviation...? If you want to move into technical writing, you need to build
knowledge in the technical arena you intend to cover. Can you write about a
software application one day, and then switch to hardware alignment
procedures the next, and then move to document pneumatic systems? Not
everyone does this (except my staff), but my goal is to show you that you
need to know what area of interest you want to pursue, because the term
technical writer only describes what we do, not where we do it. A
certificate as an aviation technical writer may not get you the time of day
if you apply for jobs in the medical industry.

Al Geist
Technical Writing, Help, Marketing Collateral, Web Design and Award Winning
Videos
Voice/Msg: 802-872-9190
Cell: 802-578-3964
E-mail: al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com
URL: http://www.geistassociates.com (Online portfolio and resume)
See also:
URL: http://www.geistimages.com (Fine art photographic prints for home or
office and beautiful note cards for all occasions.)

" ... I walked to work, quit my job, and kept walking.  Better to be a
pilgrim without a destination, I figured, than to cross the wrong threshold
every day."  (Anon)


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