I might get into tech writing

"Hey, how are you doing? What have you been up to, the last few months?"
"Oh, I'm doing all right. Looking for a job, though."
"Yes, I got laid off recently, too."
"You know, I was just thinking about getting into technical writing..."

This conversation bothers me every time I find it playing out - which it does so often I wonder if I'm in a time loop, like "Groundhog Day". The last time around, a few days ago, it was time to dig into the question of why it bothers me.

I know this is meant as an expression of interest in my trendy and lucrative profession. I know it is not meant a subtle variant on "Anybody can write."

Still, I can't picture myself saying to my friend, "You know, I've been thinking about getting into engineering," or "I've been thinking about getting into project management." I would sound presumptuous, at least to my own ears. I've been a technician and and engineering assistant, but I don't have the training to be an engineer. I took the coursework from the Project Management Institute, but did not sit for the PMP exam. If I were to consider becoming an engineer or a project manager, I would need to start by becoming qualified to do the work.

Within the Society for Technical Communication, the idea of certification for technical communicators resurfaces from time to time; to date I've opposed it because the Society hasn't ever worked out what that would entail. But now an effort is under way to develop a body of knowledge (BoK), which has been the missing piece. Once the Body of Knowledge is declared ready for use, I will have a helpful answer to my friends who speak of becoming technical writers. I'll be able to point at it and tell them, "Here is a good place for you to start."

The STC Body of Knowledge is in progress at http://stcbok.editme.com/ - take a look, or contribute.