Re: Do you need a degree?

[Lynn Gold <figmo -at- RAHUL -dot- NET>]

Stephanie Beaver wrote:
>
>I agree with Debbie Molis that, in terms of the specific skills for
>technical writing, practical experience can be more valuable than
>college coursework. However, I have found that an college degree often
>provides value to the graduate (and his or her employer) above and
>beyond any specific technical skills. An undergraduate education helps
>to develop team and time management skills, discipline, and a generally
>well-rounded worldview (even for accounting and systems majors!).

As someone who was already a Senior Technical Writer when she received her
Bachelor's degree, I found the degree didn't teach me team or time
management skills, discipline, or give me a generally well-rounded world
view.  I had to have those skills to survive in the workplace long before I
went back to school.

Many companies won't even LOOK at you if you don't have that "piece of
sheepskin" no matter HOW well you write.  I went into college already able
to write; I proved this when I tested out of the upperclass writing
requirement with such high scores the school sent me a personalized letter
telling me I'd exceeded the minimum score required to pass.  In one of my
journalism classes I wound up teaching my teacher how to use such advanced
features of our text editor as "page breaks" (he had students creating a
new file for every typed page of text!).

I DID learn about "conflict of interest" all too well.  I was assigned to
write a paper about a company that owned 10% of my company, and for which
we were writing manuals.  I had access to alot of the information my
teachers wanted me to find out, but most of it was proprietary.  Rather
than ace the paper and lose my job, I wrote a "C" paper and kept the job.
I burst out laughing when my instructors said, "It looked like you were
holding back information."  My instructors had never dealt with a situation
like mine before, as most of their students were "burger flippers" and so
forth.

I learned about dealing with bureaucratic crap.  Most of the effort getting
my degree seemed to involve jumping through one bureaucratic hoop after
another.  I already knew to not ask favors from my advisor early on as I'd
need her help with the bureaucratic stuff later on.  Instead, I wasted my
time, the time of instructors, and class space sitting through courses I
could have easily challenged because "if YOU challenge these classes,
EVERYONE will think THEY can challenge them, TOO, and it'll create a
headache for us."

What does all this have to do with tech writing?  Other than perhaps giving
me a slightly better tolerance level in dealing with bureaucratic crap,
zippo!

What the degree DID do for me is make it MUCH easier to get a job, and get
me lots more money for doing the same work.

--Lynn Gold                   "net.fogey"           figmo -at- rahul -dot- net,
  Senior Technical Writer, TCSI (weekdays)          or lgold -at- tcsi -dot- com
  News Anchor, KLIV & KARA News (weekends)

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