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Subject:Trying to enter the "Tech Writer market" From:"Francine Y. Michaud" <fymichaud -at- EARTHLINK -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 26 Mar 1998 12:51:24 -0800
Hi everyone,
I'm new to this list and wanted to say that I enjoy reading and learning
about what your joys as well as your frustrations are as technical
writers.
I am presently looking for work as a technical writer....I have been
writing "technically" for years, have a BSEE degree, however, am just
beginning to explore the tools you use such as Adobe Framemaker,
RoboHELP, etc..
I left my last job in Aug. 95 due to injuries sustained from a car
accident. Two and a half years later, I am now in top shape and ready
to work. My injuries are no longer an issue. However, I'm finding it
difficult to get into the workplace as a technical writer, and this is
really where I want to be now. I know this is perhaps out of the range
of discussions you hold on this list, however I would like to ask if
anyone of you would perhaps need an assistant, someone you would give a
break and give just a little time to learn your skills and quickly catch
up...I am fully equipped at home with a PC and a PowerMac, scanner,
etc.. I am a very good and hard worker who learns really fast.
If interested, please see my resume below. Thanks in advance for your
input and advice (I would love them!) and I look forward to enjoying
this profession with you. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Yours,
Francine Y. Michaud
PS: Oh yes, I live in Belmont, CA. The San Francisco Bay Area.
Please find attached my resume for consideration of employment into your
technical writing positions.
As you will find in my resume, I have four solid years of writing
technical sales proposals for a systems integrator in San Jose. I
managed all aspects of the creation of my proposals which involved many
people?s inputs. I did all the costing, most sales and negotiations.
From the beginning in ?91 to summer ?95, I went from writing proposals
of $ 1K to $ 2 Million dollars in value. I was the technical
representative sent for contract negotiations in Beijing, China, for a
proposal I wrote. I provided training for our asian sales
representatives, and did product demonstrations.
Prior to this last position I did work for a canadian company, known to
be a world leader in their design and manufacture of commercial flight
simulators, as a field service engineer at NASA Ames Research Center, a
deputy project manager on large control systems projects, and a software
quality assurance coordinator for the establishment of a new program in
defense systems.
Also in my resume, you will find that I have spent much time learning
about the web and it?s technologies. I am skilled in web marketing and
commerce, HTML, Graphics, Javascript, etc., and am familiar with
Java.
Best Regards,
Francine Y. Michaud
650-637-9517
fymichaud -at- earthlink -dot- net
301 Old County Rd., #203
Belmont, CA 94002
650-637-9517
650-631-1579 (fax)
e-mail: fymichaud -at- earthlink -dot- net
WORK EXPERIENCE:
Landis & Gyr Systems, Inc.
1730 Technology Drive
San Jose, CA 95110
June 1993 - Aug 1995
Senior Applications Engineer
June 1991 - June 1993
Applications Engineer
* Wrote proposals for EMS (Energy Management Systems) and SCADA
(Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems, alarm monitoring
systems, traffic control systems, and building control systems, among
other applications.
* Performed contract negotiations in domestic as well as international
markets.
* Represented company in Bejing, China, as technical rep for contract
negotiations.
* Performed product demonstrations.
* Supported and trained our national and international sales
representatives.
CAE Electronics Ltd.
Montreal, Quebec
Canada
CAE Electronics Ltd.,
@ NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Field Service Representative
Software Engineer
June 1990 to June 1991
* Programmed (C) database queries for Data Reduction and Analysis
functions of various research projects on a military helicopter flight
simulator. Also performed system debugging and operations functions.
CAE Electronics Ltd., St-Laurent, Quebec
Deputy Project Manager, Project Management - Energy Systems
August 1989 - June 1990
* Planned, coordinated, and monitored contract performance for the
supply of a Energy Management System (EMS) for the Public Service
Electric & Gas Co. (PSE&G) of Newark, New Jersey, the United States
Department of the Interior (USDI) of Grand Coulee, Washington and for
various Chinese government Electric Utility Supervisory Control
projects.
Validation Coordinator, Software Quality Assurance
Jan. 1989 to Aug. 1989
Validation Engineer, Software Quality Assurance
May 1988 - Jan. 1989
* Wrote proposals for the implementation of a software Verification and
Validation program for the canadian F-18 System Engineering Support
Contract (SESC).
* Negotiated and implemented Software Quality Assurance functions to be
implemented for this project.
* Wrote a Software Verification and Validation Plan for software
development taskings at SESC (CAE).
* Supervised and trained the Validation engineers.
* Coordinated all Software Verification and Validation activities for
the F-18 System Engineering Support Contract.
* Represented company at McDonnell Douglas Corp. in St Louis, MO., while
performing ?technology transfer? communication activities in order to
establish a Canadian F-18 support program. Received extensive training
of all software systems of the jet, as well as quality assurance
management functions, etc.
PARAMAX Electronics Inc., Montreal, Quebec
Associate Member of Engineering Staff
June 1987 to May 1988
* Performed software integration and testing on a variety of equipment
within the Combat System Test and Support Facility (CSTSF) for the newly
awarded ?Canadian Patrol Frigate? project and as a member of the Test
and Operations Software group (Command and Control division)
EDUCATION:
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Bachelor of Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering (1987)
During the last few years, I have taken many web technology courses from
various Universities (UC Berkeley and Stanford extension programs, SF
State U, etc.). I have spent alot of time learning web commerce, web
marketing, web design, multimedia and design, some server installation
and support, some Java, some Javascript, HTML, photoshop, Director, etc.
Volunteer at the Peninsula Humane Society in San Mateo, CA.
