atw: Re: FW: ASTC]

From Geoff Purchase:

-------- Original Message --------

Janice,

I'm having problems with my mail server and the freelist.org server
refuses to accept my messages.  Would you please post this to
austechwriter.

Regards,

Geoff Purchase


<Janice>
I think the answer to incompetent or amateur technical
communicators being hired over trained professionals is
not a set of initials but instead an education program
aimed at prospective employers that describes the benefits
of good technical documentation done by an experienced
technical communicator with good references and samples.

<GP>
Which is part of my point - it is up to the professional association (paid
for by members) to do this lobbying.  And it is lobbying, not education,
that we are really talking about.





<Ana>
Let us see...

1) Is a Vet (or a GP) a good vet (or GP) just because they have a degree?
I most
certainly say no.

2) Are there people with no qualifications that can treat animals (or
people) well?
I say yes.

3) Would I take my sick animals (or myself) to someone that is not official
recognised as being qualified? Absolutely not.

4) Do I have to pay for the privilege of being seen by a qualified person?
Indeed I do.


<GP>
Not sure on the analagy but we'll work with it.

My understanding about the purpose of the qualification that makes a
person a vet/GP is to ensure they can perform the job.  If they can't
perform the job to a satisfactory level they have their licence to
practise taken away from them.  Meaning that except for the fringes where
some practitioners have yet to be disqualified, any vet/gp who is
qualified is good/satisfactory.  Case in point:  We changed our vet
because he wouldn't stop looking at my wife's chest.  His vet functions
were spot on, but his personal issues weren't.  He still has his licence
but not as many customers.

With TW qualification/accreditation/etc, we would first need to from some
sort of national body with broad support, decide the purpose of said body,
provide said body with sufficient resources (money/time), define what a
technical writer "is", define what a technical writer "does", decide what
skills are absolutely mandatory and will be tested, lobby
governments/industry to support defined accreditation, police those people
who have become accredited (how?), and much more.





I do like the informal approach in Queensland, and I can see the benefits
of the more formal approaches in NSW/Vic, but I can't see the benefit of
going any further.  I'd like to see other people's opinions on what you
would include and what you would exclude from the accreditation.  I note
that the most recent salary survey
(http://www.techwriter.com.au/news/surveys/TechWriter%20Salary%20Report%202007.pdf)
even goes as far as breaking job functions into Tech Writing,
Instructional design/training, and Business Writing.  Are we talking about
creating multiple accreditation systems for different functions or is
every accredited tech writer expected to know the basics of each function?
Think about some of the massive discussions/disagreements that have arisen
over issues and expand that out to potential career ending issues:

- Word
- Frame
- XML
- HTML
- Single sourcing
- Specialist industry knowledge (IT/Medical/Construction/Mining/etc)



As to "Why are we even debating it" - good point.  The real question
surrounds our power and desire to form a guild that guides and protects
our profession.  I fall into the camp that says our profession is not
adequately defined (TW is the foundation of my contracts, but 40-60% is
often classified as Business Analysis, Process Analysis, Systems Analysis.
etc) and consequently doesn't need a guild.  Others politely disagree and
I'm happy to discuss it.



Geoff


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