Re: STC Certification Survey

[Sophia Goan <sophia -dot- goan -at- HEIMDALL -dot- SDRC -dot- COM>]

I understand the idea behind a STC Certification...and I agree that it
is a subject that is not easy to test. But...what really confuses me
is...if you have a degree in technical communication, why should you
have to take the test. Someone has, more or less, already given you a
certification. And if you take the test and fail, what does that mean?
The school you went to is composed of a bunch of morons, and the time
you spent on your degree is a joke?

Now, if there existed a certification system which could account for
degree of experience, it would be more worthwhile. Someone who is new to
the field would be at entry level...or a junior writer...while someone
with more experience would be at an upper level. But then, then my
solution becomes even more complex. Technical communication ability
levels would have to be defined...not only at a writing level but at a
discipline level. Definitions would vary according to field. One could
be an experienced writer in documentation but an entry level writer in
proposal writing.

The Technical Communication field is so large and so varied there simply
is not an easy solution
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Sophia Goan
Structural Dynamics Research Corporation
sophia -dot- goan -at- sdrc -dot- com

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