An Alternative to Certification

[Greg Cento <greg -at- FOCUS-SYSTEMS -dot- ON -dot- CA>]

Hello Bill and List,

I have been following Bill's argument with interest for the last couple of
days. I'm sure I've read every message he has posted to the list, as I
certainly appreciate Bill's sincerity (although not his argument). I would
like to respectfully submit the following response to Bill and then make my
proposal to the list at the end:

Bill, in his most recent post,  said to Phillip, "I have stated the answers
to your questions already so many times in so many ways, everyone is tired
of hearing it. In case you didn't catch them, I'll go over them again." In
fact, I don't think you have "stated the answers to your questions already
so many times in so many ways." What you have done, I believe, is only
stated *half* of the answer again and again. You keep giving us the "whats"
of the argument without telling us the "hows".

Here's how I respond when I read your reiterations of your position:

You say: Certification will give us a real profession with identifiable and
certifiable skills.

I ask: How? How am I not already in a real profession. Certainly the people
who hired me and pay me well understand that I am a professional and that
tech comm. is a real profession that brings real value to the organization.

You say: We won't just be a gang of people doing whatever pleases us and
making some money at it.

I respond: I'm not in a gang, and I don't do whatever pleases me. I create
information system (GUIs, docs) based on audience analysis. What I do adds
value to my company's products.

You say: It will give us a way not just to learn skills but to be qualified
for them.

I respond: How? How will certification give me a way of learning skills.
How will certification know which skills I *already have* and which skills
*I need* to do *my job* better? And how does certification make me
qualified? I mean, how does it *really* tell my prospective employer that I
can work for his/her company and get the job done? How does certification
say anything more than I was able to pass a (series) of test(s)? If a
prospective employer knows what they need from a tech writer, then they can
hire me based on my experience, samples, and references. If a prospective
employer doesn't know what it needs in a technical writer, then what useful
information does a certificate *really* give them? In essence, you're
telling the employer to leave it up to the certification board; the board
knows what the employer needs in a tech writer. Isn't this what you're
saying? I still don't feel like you've given me a satisfactory answer to
this one.

You say: And it will put members of the profession in the driver's seat to
decide the standards for the skills that define the profession.

I respond: Huh? On this point you haven't even been able to convince me
that there is a problem. I am in the driver's seat. I have the respect of
my employer. They tell me what the company's goals are, and I design a tech
comm. strategy to help them meet their goals. Then I hire staff
accordingly. My company and I drive what we need from the profession. You
have yet to convince me that anyone outside of my company can do this
better than I can. And to be honest, I don't care what profession you align
yourself with, as long as you bring the skills I need and can get the job
done well.


My last comment: I can't help but get the feeling you're driving your
argument from the lowest common denominator. You keep referring to
employers who don't know what they need and to tech writers who don't know
how to keep their skills current. Personally, I wouldn't work for the
first, and I wouldn't hire the second.

My proposal: How about we focus on the *exceptional professionals* in our
field? Let's create a list of the "Top 10 *Habits* of the Top 10 Technical
Communicators in Each of *Our* Industries". Let's raise the bar for
ourselves where we work. Let's take responsibility for mentoring the
juniors around us. Let's demonstrate our value where we work. Let the
market take care of the rest.

Respectfully,

--Greg


>>Phillip,
>>  I have stated the answers to your questions already so many times in so
>>many ways, everyone is tired of hearing it. In case you didn't catch them,
>>I'll go over them again:
>>   Certification will give us a real profession with identifiable and
>>certifiable skills. We won't just be a gang of people doing whatever pleases
>>us and making some money at it. It will give us a way not just to learn
>>skills but to be qualified for them. And it will put members of the
>>profession in the driver's seat to decide the standards for the skills that
>>define the profession.
>>
>>Bill DuBay
>>Technical Writer
>>Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
>>email: bill_dubay -at- phoenix -dot- com
>>(714)790-2049 FAX: (714)790-2001
>>http://www.phoenix.com
>

Greg Cento
Team Leader, Information Development
greg -at- focus-systems -dot- on -dot- ca
Focus Automation Systems Inc.

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