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Subject:Re: Oh, no -- the degree wars again! From:"Stamant, Kirk R" <stamankr -at- JMU -dot- EDU> Date:Tue, 28 Oct 1997 16:16:23 -0500
A quick request for clarification,
Excuse my ignorance, but I'm a student and a novice, and I can't help but
ask a few questions related to this whole degree war on what is important
when hiring whom for what.
First of all, when applying for a position in technical writing, aren't
most applicants expected to submit some sort of writing sample to prove
that they can do what the given position requires of them? And should not
who can prove that they can do the job well take precedent over who went
where and got what degree?
As I am someone who is interested in this field
and the job market related to it, it is helpful to know just what
employers look for when hiring technical writers.
Thanks all for your time and help.
Kirk
On Tue, 28 Oct 1997 15:51:39 -0500 Alexia Prendergast
<alexiap -at- SEAGATESOFTWARE -dot- COM> wrote:
> >A good writer is someone who is interested in things. I find it hard
> >to imagine why someone who has the active interest in things around
> them
> >that would make them a good tech writer would not have sought a degree
> in
> >some substantial subject area.
>
> I ended up with a writing degree because I was interested in everything,
> but couldn't get a degree in everything (I did try ;-). I started off in
> biomedical engineering/premed, switched to comp sci, then fell into
> writing. After graduation, I did some post-grad work in physics (for
> fun!) Did lots of liberal arts stuff in school, too -- working class
> literature, 18th century feminism, gender studies, political film, etc.
> Since I left school, I've continued reading, taking classes, exploring
> new areas, etc.
>
> The tech writers I admire have two traits in common: they are curious
> and they are excellent writers. Their degree--or whether they have a
> degree at all--doesn't matter one whit. Oh, yes--they tend to be
> slightly eccentric, too.
>
> An interesting, and slightly related, note: In our STC newsletter,
> Michael Harvey did a statistical analysis of the Carolina Chapter's 1997
> salary survey and found that only experience predicted salary (in 1994,
> experience and education predicted salary).
>
> Anyway, I think most of these flame wars end up boiling down to "don't
> generalize."
>
> A.
> --
> Alexia Prendergast
> Tech Pubs Manager
> Seagate Software (Durham, NC, USA)
>mailto:alexiap -at- seagatesoftware -dot- com
>
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