Technical Writing Certificate

I completed a technical writing certificate program in the spring. The courses emphasized:

• writing concisely
• writing for international/multicultural audiences (business writing)
• delivering writing projects on schedule and developing work timelines
• the use of graphics, charts, tables, and instructional illustrations in documentation
• organization of documentation and instructional documents (such as manuals)
• and so much more.

Each course focused on building skills and techniques that the students applied to their course project. Using a type of scaffolding, weekly assignments built up to the final project and could be incorporated into the final project. The final project in each course was a researched document of some kind.

The most interesting project I did was a recommendation report about employee engagement, which included a letter of transmittal, a project timeline, a budget, research about employee engagement theories, goals, outcomes, and strategies to achieve the aforementioned goals and outcomes, and so on. The report is based on a fictional company and fictional circumstances, since it was for a class project. You can read it here: Sample Recommendation Report.

I got a sense of satisfaction out of the program. It allowed me to develop my skills further and to practice the skills I already had, so it was worth it in terms of professional development.