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Subject:Re: Experience VS Ability From:Matt Ion <soundy -at- NEXTLEVEL -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 11 Jun 1997 20:07:40 -0800
On Wed, 11 Jun 1997 13:23:52 -0600, John Eldard wrote:
>How many of you in TECHWR-L-land get resumes filled with names of
>software programs that the writer, illustrator, editor, etc., is
>EXPERIENCED in using?
My first question would be, how does one define "experienced"? Does
having seen the splash screen for a word processor make one
experienced, or does it require at least 500 hours of productive use
and an intimate familiarity with all the features and functions in the
product... or somewhere in between?
>I would like to suggest that the ability to use
>complicated software tools is more critical to the cause than listing a
>full corral of tools you are EXPERIENCED or maybe even EXPERT in using.
Agreed. Most of my initial writings and editings can be done in a
simple text editor (I prefer QEdit :-). Just because I use Word to do
the same job does not make me experienced OR an expert in Word.
>firmly believe this is where reading and conferences come in. You need
>to become good at knowing the trends, the basics of those trends
>(techniques, tools available, how they work, etc.) and be able to use
>them with little (but some)ramping-up time. What are your opinions. (I
>am considering an article for a professional journal about this subject
>and possible use you as a resource) Thanks -
Let's get back to fundamentals here. I believe it's critical to
understand HOW and WHY things work, and not just what buttons to push
to get the end results. The buttons will change; the how and why
won't.
You may learn the right buttons to push to create a pretty newsletter
in Word 7 (ain't Wizards great... NOT) but if the procedure changes in
Word 97, or if you walk into an office where they expect you to
generate a newsletter in WordPerfect, your "experience" is worthless.
However, if you understand the hows and whys of text and graphic
frames, style templates, header and footer layout, and so forth, it
should take little or no time to figure out how to accomplish the same
task with a largely unfamiliar program.
Your friend and mine,
Matt
<insert standard disclaimer here>
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