Expert Advice

tekom offers technical communicators and those interested in a career a qualification consultation service. Qualification consultation provides comprehensive information on the professional requirements for knowledge, skills and competences of technical communicators, offers a quick way to determine the individual level of knowledge and knowledge requirements and to carry out a “gap analysis”: “What do I know – what do I not know?”

The tekom qualification consultation is open to all interested parties. For tekom members, the one-hour consultation with an expert is even free of charge – tekom pays the fees for its members. Participation in a qualification consultation is non-binding and independent of further training offers or tekom certification as a technical communicator.

The tekom qualification consultation is especially suitable for:

  • Career changers without work experience in the field of technical communication: They can obtain specific information about the competence requirements of the profession within the framework of qualification consultation. In addition, the tekom qualification consultation supports career changers in determining which skills they already have from their previous professional background for a job in technical communication.
  • Employees who already work in technical communication and have professional experience: They can analyze their current level of knowledge and potential training needs.

The consultant supports the participant in

  • surveying the professional field of technical communication with all its facets

  • knowing the competence requirements of the field of technical communication

  • realistically assessing one's own level of knowledge in the various subject areas and areas of technical communication
  • identifying content using which participants can improve or broaden their knowledge, skills or abilities
  • finding further training goals

Upon request, the consultant will inform the participant about

  • learning opportunities
  • the tekom certification process.

Procedure of qualification consultation

The basis for this is a questionnaire based in turn on the new tekom competence framework for technical communication. The competence framework is action- and task-oriented and oriented towards the creation process of information products. It shows in detail which tasks technical communicators take on and what you should know about these – all this in the latest state of the art.

The tekom qualification consultation proceeds as follows:

  1. First, you study in detail the requirements as defined in the tekom competence framework.
  2. You then complete a questionnaire based on the tekom competence framework and self-assess how much knowledge you have in specific areas of competence.
  3. Your self-assessment will be discussed in a one-hour interview with an expert. The qualification consultation usually takes place on site with the qualification consultant. It can also be conducted online, for example with Skype or GoToMeeting, and is also offered internationally.
  4. After the interview, you will know the areas of competence in which you can expand, deepen or refresh your knowledge.

Qualification consultation as a prerequisite for tekom certification

  1. Voluntary participation in qualification consultation. For certification candidates who wish to be certified "without work experience" and with participation in an accredited training program, participation in qualification consultation can be voluntary. Among other things, it supports the certification candidate in obtaining detailed information about the competence requirements.
  2. Participation in consultation as a certification requirement. However, for certification candidates who wish to be certified "with work experience" as an admission requirement, participation in the qualification consultation is a mandatory prerequisite for admission to the certification examination in order to determine the individual need for further training for successful certification. This also applies to certification candidates who do not fulfill the certification requirement "with professional experience" and who attend a further training course at a training provider accredited by tekom that does not cover the hours required for the Expert Level.

Registration and costs for the qualification consultation

The qualification consultation is free of charge for tekom members paying contributions in accordance with the fee schedule. Non-members and unemployed members pay a fee of 75.00 and 25.00 Euro respectively plus VAT and must register in advance with tekom by post or fax. Request our list of consultants by email: info(at)tekom.de

Your contact for questions regarding career and education is Dr. Daniela Straub (+49 711 65704-40).

Heike Keller (+49 711 65704-47) will be happy to answer any organizational questions about tekom certification.

Consultant map