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Like I've said previously, certification is not the total proof of one's
ability to perform the job, but when considered with other factors, a
quantifiable, objective, and broad form of certification can help in
evaluating candidates.
Technical writing is not so specialized that it, by itself, would justify
requiring licensing. Technical writing for assorted specialized
professions, like engineering, health and safety, or other specialized
disciplines, could benefit from licensing. The license in those cases
should be acquired in the field of specialty and not from technical writing.
So a technical writer in engineering may need a PE license, but there is
nothing anywhere to suggest that technical writers would ever benefit from a
TW license outside of any specialized discipline.
An effective form of certification should have education requirements,
requirements for time in the field, and an exam. A certificate with
appropriate and verified requirements could be of help to hiring managers,
if the manager was reasonably assured that the certifying organization
completed the necessary verification of these requirements.
It would be the same as using a hiring agency. The agency performs all the
preliminary checks so that that the employer does not have to do this work
and the employer can then focus on the person.
Look at this way. Let's say, you had 1000 shells laid out on a table and
only 40% of those shells had a bean. You want the perfect bean, but you
don't want to deal with empty shells. A "certifier" could go through and
mark the tops of the shells that had a bean. Would you rather go through
all of the shells yourself, or just limit your search to the shells that are
certified to contain a bean? That's certification. It limits your search
to the candidates who have demonstrated that they meet minimum requirements.
It doesn't do all of the work of selection, but it limits the field
somewhat.
Lauren
> From: Gene Kim-Eng
> Looking at the question from the viewpoint of a hiring
> manager, the only "certification" that would carry any
> weight would be one patterned along the lines of
> the PE license. This would require that the applicant
> pass a "basic" exam along the lines of the EIT (the
> currently obtainable tech writing certificates might
> suffice for this, accumulate a minimum period of OTJ
> experience, then pass a series of additional exams
> designed to test knowledge in specific fields of
> expertise in which the applicant seeks to be "certified,"
> such as biology, semiconductor technology, finance,
> etc., to be awarded a certificate as a "biotechnology
> writer," or a "finance writer."
>
> Now, what would this "PTW" licencse be worth to a
> writer? Keeping in mind that the vast majority of
> people employed as engineers, at least in the US,
> do not hold a PE license.
>
> Gene Kim-Eng
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