Education and Experience (long) [Was: Is a tech writing degree best?]

[Keith Wolfe <keith -at- MERGE -dot- COM>]

I have been following this thread since its inception, but have declined the
opportunity to speak out.

Then Deborah Ray wrote me, asking for permission to post my "How I got started
in Tech Comm" message on the Techwr-l web site. I reread it, and I think it
pertains to the current discussion. So here is my post as I wrote it last August:

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Unlike most (all?) of the folks posting on this thread [How I Got Started], my
formal education actually was in technical communication. Actually, my degree
is English, with a specialization in tech comm (I say "formal education,"
because I wore a
tuxedo the whole time). While working as a proofreader through college, I
spoke to few professional technical writers. I understood that many technical
writers were actually reincarnated professionals from previous lives, but I
never knew how much of a minority I am. How many tech writers out there have
degrees in technical writing? How many stumbled into this field from other
professions?

I graduated from Texas Tech University last December and found a position as a
writer in Wisconsin (a conscious decision) placing me in the
still-wet-behind-the-ears bracket. I wasn't born a writer, and I don't believe
anyone is. I was pursuing something between an english degree and an
anthropology degree. Strange, but true. I took the Basic Technical Writing 101
class, like it, and the rest is history. I moved to WI, not because it was the
only job I could find, but for more personal reasons.

It seems to me that my education gave me the skills (grammar, style, etc.)
necessary to succeed as a tech writer. I had exposure to MS Word, of course,
but got the chance to sit down with more beefy apps like FrameMaker,
Illustrator, and others. I even learned many of the fundamental skills for
tech writing, but I probably learned more about technical writing in the first
6 months since graduation. I'm not insulting my instructors, or the tech comm
program at Tech. I learned as much as I could learn in an academic setting.
I'm saying that the best teacher is real life and our experience and
experiences will define what we are. It's simply the nature of the beast.

My education was my template. My experience is my editor.

I am still with my first employer, and from the looks of things, I'm most
likely going to stay a while. And I'm still searching for that invisible line
to cross; the line from knowing what I know, and knowing what I want to know.
That may be an unobtainable goal, but it's going to be a fun ride.

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Today (10/28/98) I would like to add the following thoughts.

I am proud of my degree, which created the framework from which I build
experience. From my experience, I gain knowledge. With knowledge, I am
prepared to answer opportunity. By reacting to opportunity, I gain experience.
Thus is my cycle.

I believe that, with the growing popularity of Technical Communication as a
career, we will all seeing more writers with Tech Comm degrees. As well, we
will still see technical writers with non-technical and non-english-related
degrees.

To answer the question: Is a tech writing degree best?

I don't know. I'm willing to bet there are as many answers as there are writers.

My 2 cents. Believe it or don't.


Keith Wolfe

keith -at- merge -dot- com
Direct Phone:  (414) 475-2524

Associate Technical Writer
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