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Kelly Williamson wrote:
>
> Hi group,
>
> I am curious....do many of you write resumes as part of your job? I am
> starting to do more and more "corporate resumes" as part of my job and was
> wondering if this is a standard thing for tech writers to do (I don't feel
> very confident at it, though I've been doing a pretty good job, as I don't
> see it as my area of expertise.) If you do corporate resumes (and by
> corporate resume, I mean converting the candidate's regular resume into the
> corporate format, sprucing it up, and adding flowery summary paragraphs),
> about how long does it take you to put one together, working just from the
> information given to you by the candidate, as well as some interviewer
> notes?
>
In my experience, this is a fairly standard task. Biographies are often
used for web sites, business plans, year end reports, and other types of
corporate communication.
I usually ask the subject of a biography for a resume, and a summary of
relevant experience that might not show up on a resume. For example,
many people working in Linux have worked on an open source project,
which might not necessarily show up on a resume. I also ask whether the
subject wants any personal information mentioned; people differ on
whether they want it included, but I find that a sentence or two at the
end adds a personalizing touch.
Once I have the notes, I can usually write a 100 to 200 word biography
in about half an hour. Then I send it to the subject for sign off, then
make a few minor revisions. If I include collecting notes and revisions,
the whole process usually takes me a little more than an hour.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- progeny -dot- com
"I don't know what they have to say,
It makes no difference anyway -
Whatever it is, I'm against it."
- Groucho Marx in "Horsefeathers"
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