Paul Race's Online Resume

Objective

• Location - Southwest or central Ohio, virtual (I have my own computer lab and software), or semi-virtual (up to 60% travel is possible).
• Engagement type - Employment (W-2) or Consultant (1099), depending on terms.

Qualification Summary:

• Senior Professional and Technical Communicator: planning, designing, managing, editing, creating, and publishing software documentation, technical manuals, system design documentation, process guides, operating handbooks, training materials, web content, help systems, and marketing materials.

• Trainer, Course Developer, Instructor, and Public Speaker: course development and delivery for software users, developers, and installers, textbook development, unversity instructor of Technical Writing and related subjects.

• Project and Program Manager: managing documentation project teams, K-12 textbook development teams, network service development teams, and many training projects.

• Software Documentation and Specification Writer: working with engineers to scope, specify, design, test, and document software systems for major software projects, using a wide range of technologies.

• M.A. Composition and Rhetoric, B.A. English, including 30 additional courses in project management, technical writing, accounting, business management, marketing, networking, and programming.

Professional Experience:

Technical and Business Writer, NCR Corp., Dayton Ohio - 11/05-3/2010

• Assumed leadership of massive technical documentation projects that had historically lagged 6-18 months behind software release dates. Within two years had caught all projects up and met four release dates in a row.
• Scheduled, planned, managed, and developed massive retail software documentation projects, in RoboHelp, Web, PowerPoint, Word, and PDF (Adobe) formats.
• Developed and delivered technical training for delivery to employees and clients.
• Trained junior writers.
• Leaving only because company is moving its offices several states away and offering few incentives to move.

Lead K-12 Textbook Editor, Mazer Corporation, Dayton Ohio 12/02-11/05

• Led teams of writers, art researchers, fact-checkers, graphic artists, and junior editors in developing and publishing K-12 textbooks for national publishers, including Houghton-Mifflin, Pearson, and Scott Foresman.
• Edited and (in several cases) rewrote manuscripts on a wide range of subjects, especially History and English/Reading.
• Led weekly conferences with clients.
• Validated fact-checking, adherence to state and client standards.
• Left because Mazer was struggling financially, and NCR seemed to offer better opportunities for career growth. (Mazer has since closed down.)

Technical and Professional Writing Instructor (part time) - 9/98-4/06

• Class observations were universally positive; student ratings were consistently above average. Course load varied between one and two courses per term, while working a full-time job.
• University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, 8/02-5/06 Courses taught:
  • Professional and Technical Writing, Report Writing (300/500 level). Emphasis on audience and function identification, choice of appropriate language, format, effective use of text, electronic, and oratorical formats.
  • Freshman Composition - one grade-level and one remedial-level course. Emphasis on effective use of sources, effective analysis and organization, appropriate expression, and effective revision.
• Urbana University, Urbana, OH, 1/03-5/03. Freshman Composition. (One section).
• Clark State Community College, Springfield OH, 9/98-12/02. Courses Taught:
  • Technical Report Writing (200 level). Emphasis on workplace writing, audience and function identification, effective use of format, effective revision.
  • British Literature to 1700 (200 level). Emphasis on basic techniques of literary analysis and on understanding development of English literature and language from Anglo-Saxon texts through early modern authors.
• Stopped teaching only when accumulating responsibilities at NCR made it difficult to fit class preparation time into my schedule.

Information Products Consultant: Breakthrough Communications, Springfield, Ohio - 9/95-2/06

• Breakthrough Communications was started in 1995 when NCR laid me off, along with several thousand other people in the Dayton area (including over 60 technical writers). My former supervisor (who was not allowed to hire me back as an employee) asked me to come back as a consultant, but he couldn't pay me unless I had a "company." As proprietor of Breakthrough Communications, I consulted nearly full time with NCR for the next two years, then branched out to other clients.
• Key Activities:
  • Wrote technical, marketing, training, HR, process, and system documentation, including migration documentation for enterprise networking systems.
  • Developed training courses for online, CBT, lab and lecture delivery.
  • Managed projects developing documentation and courseware.
  • Developed web interfaces and web content for intranets and e-business.
  • Key Clients: NCR, AT&T, Lucent, Navistar International, Tulane University, Reynolds & Reynolds, Nationwide Insurance, SmartWorks, Standard Register, Mazer Corporation. Detailed list available.
• Tools Used: MS Windows NT, 98, 2000, XP, 2003, MS Office Suite, CorelDraw, SGML, HTML, XML, Acrobat, MS Visual Interdev, FrontPage, Evolution, Photoshop, Visio, PageMaker, Visual Basic, Java script, C++, RoboHelp, FrameMaker, MS SQL Server, other desktop publishing, web publishing, and course development systems.
• Technologies Documented:
  • Enterprise management software for banking, retail, insurance, and healthcare companies
  • WAN/LAN planning, installation, integration, and migration
  • Network management software, including Novell, Cisco router OS and protocols, APIs for avionics fibre channel databus analyzers
  • Micro, Mini, and Mainframe-based application software computers, including all MS Windows environments since 3.0, UNIX, C++, C#
  • MS SQL and Oracle-based financial and retail systems

Project Management, Writing, Training: NCR Corp, Dayton, Ohio - 5/80-9/95

• Managed project teams documenting massive software products and networking service projects.
• Created marketing and technical support programs for NCR Worldwide Customer Services.
• Designed, wrote, and edited planning, installation, user, and training guides for a wide range of products, including networking, financial, and healthcare systems.

Education

• Master of Arts in Composition and Rhetoric: Wright State University, Fairborn, OH. (Wright State’s Graduate Writing program, included courses on Business and Teaching).
• Bachelor of Arts in English: Wright State University, Fairborn, OH. Included Teaching Certification.
• Data Network, Management Training: 30 additional university-level courses from AT&T, NCR, CISCO, BCR, American Research Group, covering Networking, Data Communications, Programming, Management, and Marketing fields.

Updated 03/05/10