Re[3]: Certification & improvement (longish)

Subject: Re[3]: Certification & improvement (longish)
From: Grant Hogarth <GRANT -at- ONYXGFX -dot- COM>
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 1995 14:57:47 -0700

Karen Kay <karenkay -at- CADENCE -dot- COM> asks Arlen (and by inference, me)
to clarify our statements about certification:

GH> >> Will it change things in the future? Yes, and probably make
GH> >> things better.
> >
AW> >In your dreams. It'll make the field less attractive to get into,
AW> >and by hindering the entry into the field from other areas, reduce
AW> >the number of practioners. This reduction will not have any
AW> >correlation to ability (meaning it will equally reduce both able
AW> >and unable practioners of the craft).

Karen-- you yourself provide an example of how "certification"
would improve the field...by giving people a focus and a *minimum*
set of standards for competency.

I disagree with Arlen on this...or at least, I disagree with the
presumptions that he appears to make on what is (or could be)
valuable about certification. It is not a panacea; it will not make
all of us revered millionaires. A large number of us who would
(presumably) be grandfathered in would not be able to pass the
test(s), were we required to take it/them. There will be slackers,
ne'er-do-wells, and incompetents in our ranks, just as there are in
all professions and trades.

Certification is more like ISO 9000 than anything else...it is a
starting place to begin to structure quality...it does not
*guarantee* anything, other than a way to measure the difference
between where we have been to where we are now.
Some companies (and people) will exceed these standards as a matter
of nature or of pride, others will meet them out of external obligation,
and still others will ignore them as irrelevant, unnecessary, or
too expensive.
I don't believe that it will reduce the number of practitioners, for
there is no way to fully close the door (or ring of fire <g>), and
insist that documentation can only be produced by accredited writers
(or editors, or illustrators), as there is no way to sanction those
who choose not to use our services. Certification must
(for the most part) become an assurance of value added;
those who do not wish the assurance of that value, that warrantee,
will hire elsewhere.

ummm... SOAPBOX MODE OFF???? <chagrined>

Grant

--- in respose to: ---
KK> Can you explain this further? When I was first thinking about
KK> changing careers 3 years ago, I would have been grateful to have a
KK> test to pass. Instead, I had to work on a lot of fronts, excluding
KK> writing, and it took over a year and a half to find a job. I think
KK> certification would have made the process of changing careers a lot
KK> easier and a lot more focused.

=====================================
Grant Hogarth, Information Developer
Onyx Graphics Corp. Midvale, UT
www.onyxgfx.com ftp.onyxgfx.com
#include <std_disclaim>

"People forget how fast you did a job --
they remember how well you did it."
-- Howard W. Newton


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