Re: Tech Writing Skills, College Degrees, Marketable Skills

[<Jeanne -dot- Keuma -at- ch2m -dot- com>]

Thanks for all your thoughtful responses, especially yours, Andrew!  

Just a wee bit of clarification.  I never said "tech" courses were
unnecessary.  I said tech comm degrees "should not necessarily" require
tech courses.  Perhaps I'm assuming that all other learning institutions
already do require fundamental courses in science and technology.  At
least that was true for me.  (And I happened to be a science buff
anyway--science club president and all that -- er, decades ago).  Aren't
all well-rounded universities these days requiring the usual battery of
science and technology courses?  It is certainly important to know your
subject matter and your audience.  

I've been at two national defense contractors and at both, the "tech
writers/editors" have had to learn new information, learn about the
users, write, edit, AND desktop publish.  (And yes, sometimes photocopy.
Hey, it's a job!  And someone needs to QC the final product even after
proofing the proofs!)  So I (and most of my colleagues) have learned the
various disciplines, learned the lingo, and learned the reader's/clients
needs--as well as learned the federal and state regulations required of
documents written for the government.

Currently, I must be able to write/read/edit documents in the fields of
software engineering, chemistry, geology, hydrogeology, architecture,
civil engineering, mechanical engineering, environmental engineering,
and more.  To have been "degreed" in ALL that (via course requirements
for one degree) would have certainly required quite a lot of extra
courses!  (However, it would be nice to get some kind of credit for
learning those subjects beyond grad school...)

     [ANDREW WROTE:] 
I think it is important to clarify this distinction. I believe the
technical communication profession is organized into three main
disciplines: 1. Authoring (writing) 2. Editing 3. Desktop publishing

Each of these disciplines has a different set of requirements and skills
that are necessary. Desktop publishing requires strong layout, design,
and tool skills.  Editing requires strong English skills. And authoring
requires subject-matter expertise. 

Skill in one discipline does not mean skill in the others. People who
are great desktop publishers (a.k.a. tool monkey) are rarely also good
writers.  People who are writers often are terrible editors. 

Generally, as you progress from desktop publisher, to editor, to writer
you get closer and more "intimate" with the subject matter at each
level.

The problem here is that STC and most of the tech writing programs out
there, don't make this distinction of disciplines. As such, they produce
tech comm people who have good editing and desktop publishing skills,
but no authoring skills. As such, the tech comm profession has tons of
desktop publishers and editors all calling themselves writers, when they
really aren't qualified to write about anything other than grammar or
tools. 
     [END QUOTE]

Hence the difficulty in finding a job candidate who meets all those
qualifications...or at least two out of three (with some strong
capabilities to accomplish the third!)!  In many offices, and certainly
at many small firms, you MUST be able to do all three to successfully
deliver written and nicely packaged products to a client.

(Ah, would that my duties were only desktop publishing.  I wouldn't be
so distracted by all the cubicle noise around me, not having to read and
write to such degrees!)

Jeanne


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

NEED TO PUBLISH YOUR FRAMEMAKER CONTENT ONLINE?
?Mustang? (code name) is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to Web, intranets, and online Help.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! See a live demo that
will take your breath away: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l3

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.