North Bay STC meeting, Petaluma, June 21 st, 2007 All you ever wanted to know about technical communications Resumes and Portfolios but were afraid to ask Andrew Davis Synergistech Communications

Overview Context Goals Part 1: Resumes Part 2: Portfolios Part 3: Parsing the job description Part 4: At the interview Part 5: Q & A

Context My experience 2 yrs’ journalism and marcom, 8 yrs’ tech pubs (as staff TW, Pubs Mgr, contract TW), 7+ yrs’ tech comms recruiting My role Matchmaker, advisor, champion My sources (1) industry hiring managers, (2) research into trends, (3) job descriptions, (4) candidates

Goals Keep you sane Secure work reliably and efficiently Operate transparently Give you ideas and hope Address your questions

Part One: Resumes Role of a Technical Communicator’s resume Guidelines What works What doesn’t work? Resume-writing resources

Part Two: Portfolios Role of a Technical Communicator’s portfolio What works? What doesn’t work?

Part Three: Parsing the job description Identify: Audience Deliverables Subject Material Seniority Location Breadth Growth Path Customize your cover letter

Part Four: At the Interview Bring hardcopy of your resume Bring relevant portfolio samples References Ask for the job

For more info... Please see our site’s Advice section