SUMMARY:

• Project Management — Throughout my career as a technical writer
• Worked under minimal supervision.
• Created and managed documentation development schedules.
• Created new documents “from scratch.”
• Create new revisions of existing documents.
• Followed corporate standards.
• Prioritized multiple assignments as needed.
• Worked directly with subject - matter experts and team members.
• Gathered information using products being documented.
• Tested accuracy of documents against final products.
• Conducted reviews of documents.
• Review the proposed changes to the system or application to be documented.
• Plan and outline the user guide / online Help system for the project.
• Determine the educational level of users who access the user guide / online Help system.
• Consider what questions users might have about unfamiliar terms and concepts.
• Provide specific instructions about how to accomplish required tasks.

SOFTWARE USED:

FrameMaker (through Version 13)

DreamWeaver, FrontPage

Word (through Version 2010)

RoboHelp

Excel (through Version 2010)

PaintShop, PhotoShop

PowerPoint (through Version 2010)

Adobe Acrobat, Acrobat Professional

Visio (through Version 2010)

Adobe Distiller

Access (through Version 2010)

Snagit (and other screen-capture utilities)

SharePoint (through Version 2010)

SAP

AutoCAD Light

OneNote, Lotus Notes

SPECIFIC WORK EXPERIENCE:

Senior Technical Writer

Confidential

Responsibilities:

• Created and maintained various user manuals, functional specifications, and other documents that were managed for version control in corporate SAP system.
• Produced new manuals “from scratch” and revised existing manuals 100-400 pages long during a development period of 2 - 6 months.
• Created documentation development plans outlining content, structure, and development schedule of deliverable documents.
• Gathered information for documentation
• Interviewing Software and Mechanical Engineers, Quality Assurance, and Product Support representatives.
• Operating the hardware and software products from prototype through completion.
• Evaluating the hardware and software products through usability testing.
• Conducted documentation reviews near the end of the product development cycle.
• Converted finalized documents to PDF for posting on the corporate intranet.

Technical Writer

Schlumberger

Responsibilities:

• Converted, reformatted, and updated seismic acquisition training manuals from A4 to A5 format using FrameMaker, Word, PaintShop, and Adobe Professional.

Staff Technical Writer

Confidential

Responsibilities:

• Initially, worked 9 months as contract Technical Writer; then, was hired for fulltime position and worked 5 years, 3 months as staff Technical Writer.
• Using FrameMaker, Word, and various graphics programs, wrote documents such as user guides, reference guides, and release bulletins for client use on the Confidential intranet.
• Created bulletins 5 - 50 pages long “from scratch” and several manuals from 200 - 400 pages long.
• Gathered information for documentation
• Reviewing technical specifications.
• Interviewing subject matter experts.
• Reviewing government regulations.
• Researching relevant information on the Internet.
• Conducted reviews near the end of the development cycle.

Staff Technical Writer

Confidential

Responsibilities:

• Using FrameMaker, Word, and various graphics programs, wrote hardcopy manuals and online help for software.
• Created and maintained user guides, reference manuals, installation guides, release notes, and functional specifications.
• Created hardcopy documents 100 - 400 pages long “from scratch” during a development period of 5 months.
• Created documentation development plans outlining the content, structure, and development schedule of deliverable documents.
• Gathered information for documentation
• Interviewing Software Development, Quality Assurance, and Product Support representatives.
• Operating the software from prototype through completion.
• Evaluating the product through usability testing.
• Conducted reviews and solicited information (with deadlines) throughout the product development cycle.
• Converted finalized hard copy documents to HTML for posting on the corporate intranet.

Staff Technical Writer

Confidential

Responsibilities:

• Using FrameMaker, Word, RoboHelp, and various graphics programs, wrote and maintained hardcopy documentation and online help for software.
• Created and maintained user guides, reference manuals, installation guides, release notes, white papers, and functional specifications.
• Created “from scratch” several hardcopy documents 200 - 400 pages long during a development period of 6 months.
• Created documentation development plans outlining the content, structure, and development schedule of deliverable documents.
• Gathered information for documentation
• Interviewing software development, quality assurance, and product support representatives.
• Operating the software product from prototype through completion.
• Evaluating the product through usability testing.
• Conducted reviews throughout the product development cycle
• Converted finalized documents to HTML for posting on the corporate intranet.
• Developed online Help system using RoboHelp and Word.

Contract Technical Writer

Confidential

Responsibilities:

• Wrote and maintained user guides and reference manuals for Computer Operations center.
• Using Word, created “from scratch” and maintained several Computer Operations user manuals 150 - 300 pages long during a development period of 2 - 6 months.
• Interviewed Computer Operations personnel regarding their job responsibilities.
• Observed the performance of all computer operation procedures normally conducted.
• Documented the physical console of all computer and peripheral devices.
• Documented all computer operation procedures based on job title.
• The development period for each manual ranged from 2 to 6 months.