While the State of Alaska now has a fancy new dynamic tool to find providers it wasn’t always like that. In fact the Non-Certified Providers, Care Coordination and PCA lists were generated for posting to the website monthly by me. Below are how I built the lists:
Tag: Technical Writing
What Do I Do Exactly?
What is it I do, exactly? I write instructions anyone can follow for how to use software or follow an in house procedure. I can make software do things it might not have been originally intended to do as well via macros or other programming scripts.
And more specifically, what can I do to make or save money for a client? I save you time on training and wasted time not knowing exactly how to do something.
What is it that’s special or unique about me?
In other words, what combination of skills and experience do I have that would make you as an employer want to work with me?
SUPER POWERS
Writing
Short writing pieces like this article or very long items that give detailed, illustrated instructions like my book on Pattern Making for Dolls. I’ve done several dozen sewing patterns, I’ve also written many times on using software. My passion is in writing instructions and procedures. Clear, precise instructions that everyone can understand.Spreadsheets
Excel & Google Sheets are two of my best applications. I can enter the data and setup the formulas to display it in many ways. I can create entire systems to track data and report on the status of a project. I can integrate the systems with Access and SharePoint, Word and even Adobe Acrobat.Coordination & Organization
I keep entire teams humming with information and systems to track that information. I track who has what, where an item is in the process and how that process can be streamlined. If there is a way to make someone’s life easier I suggest and implement it.What do I love to do? What’s my niche?
Writing
I love to write instructions for software applications. I love to write tutorials that go through a process that makes a task easier or automates it. I also love learning new things in the process of writing about them!
Sewing & Pattern Drafting
I know this is technically a hobby but for a while I did make a little bit of money drafting patterns and writing books on the topic. It is a very technical subject surprisingly and especially when you try to explain how to do something step by step. Teaching it is even more of a challenge when you do it over a chat room and the only way to share images is via email. Ahhh teaching online in the days before YouTube or live streaming or teleconferencing… when it was all still the Jetsons and not real yet! Given the chance I’d still love to teach pattern drafting online only this time with more modern tools!
Programming
I have been dabbling with programming languages since the days of BASIC A. I am self taught except for Perl and JavaScript which I actually had formal classes in. I hand code sites and learn as I go. I have a wide variety of knowledge and would love to apply it to more projects.
Events
I enjoy setting up to do an event. A class to teach something, a gathering of friends or family or even as part of my job. Years ago I was an Events Coordinator and had a lot of fun setting up the advertising and marketing for various demonstrations of crafts, many of which I had never done. I coordinated week long summer camps for kid crafting as well. Event coordination is just like project management and I enjoy that as well. Keeping track of tasks and details is a big part of what keeps me motivated and happy.
Website Planning
My original domain was not complicated. It was going to be a simple WordPress website. One place to house everything. Then everything changed. I decided I needed a place to write tutorials, another to work on a hand coded site and a third area to explore other hand coding adventures. The result is a complex set of interconnected websites as diagrammed to the left.
Why diagram a website? I chose to diagram this one because of it’s complex nature and the fact that it morphed from one basic site into several. I wanted places to do side projects which keep me busy. I finished the Learning Site which is an extension of my portfolio and adds detail to my resume, lots of detail.
I plan to find the files for Lady Code Monkey and resume work on the list of things I wanted to do to that site next.
Oh, I forgot a site or two on here… my Goals site where I randomly blog about goals and my life along with my Photography site which I do for fun. I take photos of the natural world up here in Alaska… never know when a moose will pose.
LinkedIn Articles
Unofficial Titles
Does your workplace have a fun faux-policy of giving unofficial titles. Yeah, we all have “job titles” but I’m talking the fun ones.My Personality Needs to Show
I have decided I am tired of the generic boring resumes and after looking at my skills and experience 60+ times and refining my resume more than that I am going to go more creative with the document.XML Resume
I plan to edit and add to this XML resume in the coming days and weeks, for now this is a nice skeleton hand developed and coded.
<?xml version=”1.0 encoding=”UTF-8″ ? >
<name>Sue Darby</name>
<phone>907-707-5654</phone>
<email>[email protected]</email>
<website>www.sue-a-darby.com</website>
<linkedin>www.linkedin.com/in/suedarby</linkedin>
<titles>Technical Writer, software Documentation, Software Support</titles>
<summary>Sue is a master of software applications both old and new. She enjoys both learning new applications and teaching other how to use those applications via written and illustrated tutorials documentation and chat.</summary>
<skills>XML, JSON, HTML, CSS
Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Libre Office, Google Docs & Spreadsheets
DITA, Scapple, Scrivener, Scribus, Publisher
Corel Draw, Inkscape, Gimp
Present information to technical and non-technical users
Digital Verbal & Written Communication</skills>
<job>Technical Writer</job>
<company>Alaska Office Specialists</company>
<website>www.alaskaos.com</website>
<achievements>5+ Websites are demonstrations of website coding, writing and maintenance
Author, illustrate and diagram 10+ instructions & articles written with an end user in mind
Author XML documents</achievements>
<job>Technical Writer, Published Author</job>
<company>Sue’s Tiny Costumes</company>
<website>www.suestinycostumes.com</website>
<achievements>Published author of 2 books with articles in 4 magazines ~ “Pattern Drafting for Miniatures” & “Pattern Making for Dolls”, International Doll Magazine”, “Doll Castle News”, “Dolls, Bears & Anywears”, & “Dolls In Miniature “</achievements>
<job>Board Secretary</job>
<company>Alaska Coalition for Telehealth & TeleMedicine</company>
<website>www.akctt.org</website>
<achievements>Participate in discussions on regulations and effects of Telehealth and Telemedicine in Alaska</achievements>
<job>Senior Services Data Analyst Technician</job>
<company>State of Alaska</company>
<website>www.alaska.gov</website>
<achievements>66% increase in workflow via macro design, programming, development and implementation</achievements>
<college>Charter College</college>
<degree>Bachelors of Science Business Management & Information Technology</degree>