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Subject:Re: Do you need a degree? From:Hillary Jones <hillary -at- NICHIMEN -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 23 Jun 1997 13:42:25 -0700
Sounds like Lynn Gold went to a not-so-good program for her tech writing
degree! I hereby state that there are great tech writing programs all
over the country where students share and learn from each other, the
professors want to help you develop as a professional, and the
curriculum *does* teach you time management skills, problem-solving
skills, and the finer points of writing.
I shudder to think where my career would be if I hadn't gotten a degree
in technical writing! Before I got the degree, I had a "tech writing
job" that was essentially reformatting an existing document and adding
headings to it for *minimum wage.* And I thought it was a good job! In
college I was also a terrific writer, but I had never heard of STC, this
listserv, or any of the stuff tech writers keep in their tool belts
(audience analysis, document design, etc.). Lucky for me I heard about
my university's tech writing program and signed up for a class, or I
might still be slaving in the salt mines at a laughable hourly wage and
believing I was a tech writer!
Do you need a degree? Maybe not, but I totally disagree with Lynn's
dismissal of a technical writing degree as just a piece of paper to get
you job interviews. I believe that what you learn on the job and what
you learn in a tech writing program are *different* and *both valuable*!
P.S. I'm not intending to flame Lynn, I just disagree with his/her
summation of the usefulness of a tech writing degree.
--
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Hillary Jones
hillary -at- nichimen -dot- com
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