SUMMARY

I am a Technical Writer with over ten years of technical writing experience in IT application development. I develop, write, edit and maintain SDLC and technical documents for application development and operations support, and customer - facing product documents and training materials. I have five years of experience collaborating with clients, sales reps, business owners and application development teams to capture and write user business requirements and functional specifications for software applications. I have excellent communication and written skills, strong research, analytical, organizational, problem solving, time management, interviewing, and listening skills. I am attentive to details, a motivated self-starter, able to work independently with minimal guidance and supervision, and as a team member. I learn new product technologies, processes and tools quickly.

• Analyze, plan, gather, organize and track all content throughout the entire project
• Intermediate level proficiency analyzing business processes to improve performance and productivity
• Understand the SDLC, Internet and client/server architectures, database design and Data Center operations
• Participate in system interface design sessions, formal system reviews and system validation
• Use the principles of project management to manage multiple projects and meet project due dates
• Work with the business owner to identify the intended audience and documentation objectives
• Use the principles of Information Mapping to logically organize the content for technical andcustomer-facing documents
• Interview SMEs, read user requirements and design specification, use the software to obtain information to write topics, overviews, scenarios and task-based instructions
• Develop document deliverables to comply with the company’s style, branding and publication guidelines
• Conduct content reviews and work with SMEs and QA to review, test and validate information and usability
• Advanced proficiency using Microsoft Office 7 applications and Visio
• Intermediate level MS Project user
• Intermediate proficiency creating interactive task-based simulations in Captivate to demonstrate software functions and assess a user’s comprehension
• Follow company style, branding and publication guidelines when developing document deliverables
• Working knowledge of HTML
• Proofread (content and graphics) and perform copy edits

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Industries: Bank Operations, Configurable Enterprise Financial systems (Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable), Credit Reporting, Data Processing, Disability Insurance, ERP systems, Facility Management, Healthcare Insurance, Information Management (CAD/CAM/CAE, Healthcare Patient, Package delivery/tracking systems), Manufacturing, Medical Device, Real Estate, SAP Invoice Solution, Stock Market Tracking, and Tax Accounting

Deliverables: Administrator guides, business process and procedure flow diagrams, business requirements, Captivate interactive training modules, FAQs, functional requirements, deployment and installation guides, job tasks inventory with storyboards and detailed content outline, online Help, Operations Support documents, policies and procedures, process guides, product descriptions, proposals, quick reference cards, reference guides, release notes, standard operating procedures, technical bulletins, test scripts, technical system overviews, training materials, use cases, user guides, user requirements, and Web conten

Platforms and Operating Systems: AS-400, Client/Server, IBM Mainframe, .NET, Oracle, SAP, SharePoint, UNIX - HP, Sun, and DEC, Windows NT, and XP.

Software: Adobe Acrobat Professional, Adobe Captivate 3, Adobe FrameMaker 7, Adobe InDesign CS3, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Brownstone, GroupWise, HTML, Lotus Notes, Live Meeting, MS Office 2003 and 2007 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access) MS Project 2003, NetOp Remote Controller, Outlook, Paint Shop Pro, Pathlore LMS, Questionmark Perception Authoring tool, RoboHELP, RoboHELP Screen Capture, RWD Info Pak, Snagit 9.1, Microsoft Visio Professional, and WinZip.

Webinars / Workshops:  Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro 7 for Web Conferencing and Virtual Classrooms and Rapid Delivery of eLearning webinars, Questionmark Authoring Tool workshop, Information Mapping workshop, Process Modeling workshop, Instructional Design workshop, Project Success Method and Microsoft Project workshop, User Requirements Gathering workshop, Systematic Project Management workshop, Train the Trainer workshop, Leadership Training workshop, Developing High-impact Training Materials workshop.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Proposal Writer  

Confidential, Wilberforce, OH

Collaborate with the Vice President of Institutional Advancement and business-program owners to write inquiry letters and proposals requesting grants for University programs from major corporations, foundations and private funders. Interview and receive information from the business-program owners, incorporate information received into the appropriate sections of the proposal. Edit content and conduct review sessions to ensure the information is complete and accurate. Ensure proposal submission deadlines are met.

Cricket Customer Service Representative (Part-Time)

Confidential

Received customers’ incoming calls. Answered questions about their account and plan features, removed and added features, applied payments in the system, set up new phone plans and logged notes on calls. Transferred customers with service requests outside the scope of my responsibilities to the appropriate team for assistance. Strived to provide quality customer service and manage my average call length in accordance to company guidelines and policy.

Instructional Designer (Contract)

Confidential, Alpharetta, GA

Read the healthcare application product user and reference guides and collaborated with the business owner and trainer to conduct job inventory analysis and develop a job task inventory outline for the WBT module. Used the application to obtain the information to develop a detailed course outline, write narrations for each storyboard in the training module and the instructions to perform each task in the application. In addition, wrote instructions for the developer to add special effects to each page in the training module. Used the content in the approved detailed course outline to develop a storyboard for each task in the training module. Used Captivate to develop software demonstrations showing users how to complete a work task using application functions and simulations to measure student comprehension for completing work tasks.

Technical Writer (Contract)

Confidential, Duluth, GA

Supported the documentation needs of the Research and Development team. Interviewed developers and reviewed the requirements and design specifications to understand the software application functions. User documentation deliverables included a product installation deployment guide for IT Professionals, a system configuration guide for system administrators, a product user guide for clinical and biomedical staff, and Help for Web portal applications that manage and generate information through wireless medical devices that are connected to a server. Managed project tasks and deliverables to meet the project deadlines.

Technical Writer / Business Analyst (Contract)

Confidential, Roswell, GA

Supported the IT Development and Information Management teams. Worked with project managers to develop project plans for multiple critical software development projects. Developed SDLC templates to establish standards for documenting business requirements, functional requirements, and system design specifications for software products. Designed templates and wrote internal and external customer-facing documents. Worked with project managers to coordinate and conduct project meetings and JAD sessions. Used information captured from the JAD sessions to develop the business requirements and software application process flows and descriptions. Conducted content review sessions. Worked with technical and management teams to complete business requirements, business rules, and functional requirements. Worked with the development team and account managers to create prototypes of the system user interface to submit for customer approval. Assisted developers in completing system design specifications. Collaborated with Solution managers to develop product training materials for sales representatives and account managers. Used Captivate to develop simulations demonstrating how to use application functions; PowerPoint to create product overview presentations; RoboHELP to develop online Help; Microsoft Word to develop SDLC document templates, user guides and training materials; and Visio to develop business and software process flow diagrams.

Technical Writer (Contract)

Confidential, Tucker, GA

Worked with the CAD designer and the project manager to compile vendor specifications and recommendations for acoustical, theatrical lighting, audio-visual equipment and CAD drawings for an architectural construction project. Developed a specification document template in Microsoft Word.

Technical Writer (Contract)

Confidential, Alpharetta, GA

Interviewed case managers, nurse consultants, disability resource specialists and unit managers to obtain information to write work instructions for processing short-term and long-term disability claims for customer accounts. Updated the corresponding core process work flow map diagrams to reflect the disability claims process work instructions. Managed project and QA tasks to meet tight deadlines.

Technical Writer

Confidential, Marietta, GA

Worked with technical content experts and the Quality Assurance Validation engineers to develop and publish validation computerized system documentation. Assisted in coordinating and facilitating JAD sessions to capture business requirements. Coordinated and conducted content review meetings. Maintained operations, system, validation and qualification SDLC documents. Worked with the IT Training Manager and NetG training consultant to launch a Web eLearning initiative for employees at two company sites — configured Web pages for the training site, added users and assigned ACLs and organized curriculums for the various teams. Worked with Accounts Payable/Receivable Specialist to write procedures for creating, completing, generating and submitting invoices using the SAP Invoice solution. Worked with the Commercial Operations group and hardware vendors to document standard business processes for purchasing, managing and distributing hardware and software to the Sales force. Developed business process maps, and wrote policies and procedures for distributing and managing inventory assets to the Sales force.

Technical Writer (Contract)

Confidential, Atlanta, GA

Worked with the Package Authorization team to update specifications and test procedures for supplier, plant and package authorization manuals.

Technical Writer (Contract)

Confidential, Atlanta, GA

Supported the HP Hardware Consulting group and Infrastructure team on a hardware acquisition and configuration project. Provided project manager with status on system purchases. Maintained procurement and server information in an Access database; created and ran queries to generate reports for project leaders, hardware technicians, management and customers. Collaborated with the engineers to write server configuration specifications.

Technical Writer / Business Analyst (Contract to Hire)

Confidential, Cypress, CA

Wrote and maintained Web-based Help for CAD/CAM/CAE products that are marketed worldwide. Worked with the Deployment team to write network security procedures. Worked with customers and developers to write business requirements and functional requirements. Assisted developers in writing system design specifications for software applications. Maintained SDLC product documents. Read functional and design specifications, tested the software and interviewed SMEs to obtain information to write Help for information management products. Designed and wrote Client and Web-based help for information management applications.

Technical Writer (Contract)

Confidential, Anaheim, CA

Read business and functional requirements and system design specifications, attended project meetings and interviewed content experts to obtain information to write user guides for real estate information management software.

Technical Writer (Contract)

Confidential, El Segundo, CA

Interviewed system developers and used the software to obtain information to maintain information about existing and new functions in product user guides and online Help. Researched and resolved customer problem-tracking entries for online Help. Tested hyperlinks to ensure the Help topics were mapped correctly and reviewed the content for accuracy.

Technical Writer (Contract)

Confidential, Monterey Park, CA

Wrote and maintained policies and procedures for Y2K software and hardware remediation. Maintained documents in the MS Access document-archive database. Used MS Project to create project plans for multiple projects and teams. Provided weekly project status updates to management team.

Technical Writer

Confidential,  Chicago, IL

Wrote and maintained information for five configurable ERP enterprise financial products in the Business Planning and Control System (BPCS) on AS/400, Client/Server and UNIX platforms. Updated information for installation guides — cumulative, general, and full-cut releases. Maintained network security policies and procedures for the technical staff and the content for online Help products. Analyzed, researched and resolved customer business maintenance requests. Collaborated with trainers and instructional designers to maintain courseware training materials. Tested the courseware training materials against the education database to ensure transactions and processes executed correctly.