At that time, most of the editorial work in documentation departments was carried out by technicians or engineers without qualifications in technical documentation. tekom wanted to improve this situation and enable those interested to gain a formal qualification through further training. Although qualification as a technical editor was already available through university degree courses or further training from a number of educational institutions such as tecteam, the increasing demand for technical editors could no longer be met by these access routes.
We were actually just responding to the needs of companies, business and industry, which at that time often lacked qualified staff in the field of technical editing, recalls Herbert Herzke.
Volunteering as a win-win situation
The aim was to qualify lateral entrants for the profession of technical editor. In a pilot project, tecteam set up the traineeship in collaboration with tekom.
The type and structure of the traineeship was based on the traineeship for journalists. The trainees were trained internally (company) and externally (tecteam Bildungsinstitut) for two years. The training company shared the costs with the volunteers. The volunteers received half of their entry-level salary, while the other half was used to finance the external training: a win-win situation.
For Herbert Herzke, there are three winners of the traineeship. Firstly, the companies, which take on the internal training of the volunteers and thus get well-trained employees and save half of their costs. Secondly, the volunteers themselves, who are given the opportunity of a new career direction and qualification. And tecteam, as an external trainer, whose training costs are also halved.
Project start 2000
The development and planning of the traineeship took two years and required the following organizational measures, among others:
- define the communication channels between the parties involved
- Formulate a training contract
- define the access requirements
- develop a training plan
- design the lesson content and timetables
- acquire the volunteer companies
- carry out suitable advertising measures
Pilot phase 2002 to 2005
In the first year, tecteam started with 14 trainees. Applicants had to be trained in a technical profession, have a degree in the humanities, social sciences or natural sciences or have a journalistic background. Writing should be easy for everyone and they should also have an interest in technology. By 2005, the number of applicants had increased, as had the number of interested companies. tecteam went from being a pilot provider to a permanent qualifier.
Brochure from the pilot phase
Volunteering as a model of success to this day
The companies usually take on the volunteers, even if they are not obliged to do so. For their part, the volunteers take the opportunity to impress with their achievements and promote themselves.
The traineeship is now an established part of the training landscape. Interest on the part of participants and companies is constantly increasing. The course content is regularly adapted to the requirements of technical documentation. And while in the early years it was only possible to start once a year, applicants can now start at practically any time.
Looking back, it can be said that the development of the technical traineeship has played a key role in increasing the proportion of qualified staff in technical editing.
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