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Dear John: Age and Technical Writing Education

John’s note: After my initial answer to Carton’s question (below this post) he wrote back to tell me how unhelpful I was, so here goes my second try.

Carlton Writes:

If you took the time to read my letter, (looks like you didn’t) you would have seen that I was not employed at present, and that I thought my age was a mitigating factor. I was hoping for a comprehensive answer and not one geared to push your column or some expensive university.

Besides, $1200 for a three-credit course is just doesn’t make sense to someone who is not working!

I did read your whole letter. I did not answer the portions about your individual circumstances because my column answers questions about writing; it is not for personal advice. I do not have the skills to give personal advice. I can only advise about writing. Anything else is purely an uneducated opinion, and I have found that those do more harm than good in most cases.

Your letter begins with concerns about classes and ends with a discussion of technical education, so I discussed writing education in my answer. If age was your real question, then you should have asked something like, “Will my age prevent me from having a career as a technical writer?” You never asked me that. You presented me with your concerns about the education needed for technical writing, followed by your personal background, then more about technical skills and then asked what I thought. I, naturally, answered the part about writing and education.

Because you are worried about your age, I will tell you this. I currently work in a technical writing department in which every other writer is above the age of forty and many are in their fifties. Almost all of them are single parents and most transitioned into this career after the age of 35. I cannot address the issue of being an American in Germany or the job market there because I do not have access to anyone else in those circumstances. Nobody here has your specific circumstances, but everyone here has overcome their own obstacles to get where they are.

As for ‘pushing’ an expensive option, I believe you misinterpreted my answer. I told you that the course you were taking had merit and I told you that the benefit of the course is that it would give you valuable samples to use in your job search. I also advised the more comprehensive university courses because the course you are considering is not graded (making it difficult to measure your progress) and cannot be applied toward a degree should you decide to pursue one later. I presented you with a different option than the one you were considering but I never tried to dissuade you from the original course. Which option you choose is your choice. I get no financial or other consideration from the university I recommended; I just know that it is a very good distance-learning program because I have used it myself. I did recommend programming and technical education in general. I do not believe you must have an additional degree, but that does not mean it would not be valuable. A class in XML will not turn you into a good technical writer. It can, however, add a technical skill to your arsenal as a writer.

John’s Note: (Here is the original question and response. I had trimmed the question to the parts I answered, but it now appears in its entirety.)

Should I take an online technical writing course?

Carlton Writes:

I am considering a 12-week online technical wrting course sponsored by Online-Learning.com out of Canada. In this course, you are taught XML and get to produce a resume, a manual and a few other documents using an XML editor. Now some background: I had three technical and public relations writing internships through graduate school (got an MPA) some ten years ago. At the time, I didn’t consider following through with my writing career because I was half way through my program, jobs in that field were hard to come by, and, I would have had to start over. Now, I’m unemployed and living in Germany with my child, and government jobs are hard to come by, or I would return to the U.S. I’m 47 yrs. old and am already afraid of facing age discrimination. So, I thought, even though I haven’t very much technical background if any, that I would try to resuscitate my career in this field. I’m hoping if I can learn some programming languages, for example, that I could find a writing job without having to get another degree. What do you think, please help?

The course does sound like it has merit, though I have some reservations. Online-learning.com is affiliated with a legitimate university but the courses do not count toward any degree and as far as I can tell, are not graded. The benefit of the particular class you are considering is that it will help you develop some samples of your work, which can come in handy down the line. I would still recommend that you consider a for-credit university program such as the one through Northern Arizona University. Their program uses full-scale, graded classes and leads to a graduate-level certificate. More importantly, the class work can count toward a Master’s Degree.

I do recommend programming and other technical classes for prospective technical writers. The better your technical background, the greater your opportunities will be.