Technical Writing / Instructional Design

P a g e *

JOHN ORMOND

Chicago, IL ***** ********@*****.*** 773-***-**** www.linkedin.com/in/john-t-ormond WORK EXPERIENCE

MARS, INCORPORATED – Chicago, Illinois 2023–PRESENT People & Organizations (P&O) Global Content Solutions Analyst // Dec. 2023 – Sept. 2024

• Elevated P&O knowledge articles written by international team of untrained writers to a professional level by applying technical and instructional writing best practices. Tasks included:

Creating and applying standards of formatting and style

Revising and editing article body text for clarity, brevity and consistent, appropriate tone

Ensuring that article metadata was accurate and complete

• Served as primary information source for Associates at all levels regarding the article-publication workflow, article governance and approval, and related topics. Responded to feedback about existing articles to ensure continuous improvement.

• Published notices in Microsoft Teams channel for article authors, to clarify policies and motivate participation in specific initiatives.

• Expanded, edited and published current version of Mars’ P&O Knowledge Hub Style Guide. HANLON ORMOND CONSULTING – Chicago, Illinois 2020–2023 Course Business Developer // Jan. 2020 – Dec. 2023

• Provided consultation and direction to independent course creators, advising them on topics including selecting a course format; organizing and pacing lessons; developing learning objectives; using multimedia; building learning communities; creating activities and assessments; and marketing and selling courses online. PEARSON – Elk Grove Village, Illinois 2013–2019

Communications Specialist // Jan. 2019 – Dec. 2019

• Wrote and edited internal and external communications, in a variety of formats, and socialized them to a wide spectrum of internal stakeholders as well as our diverse customer base.

• Wrote customer-facing updates and alerts about planned maintenance, system downtime and performance issues, as well as a variety of other announcements, messages, blogs, etc., as requested. Instructional Designer // Jan. 2013 – Dec. 2018

• Partnered with university faculty to design objective-based online courses in a variety of learning management systems (LMSes), using current best practices in the field.

• Collaborated with faculty in designing learning activities; conceived and storyboarded multimedia presentations; and reviewed existing courses and suggested avenues for improvement based on student feedback.

• Managed creating and revising eight to twelve courses simultaneously, every term, for a total of six different institutions in five different LMSes.

PEARSON EMBANET – Elk Grove Village, Illinois 2010–2012 Project Manager // Jan. 2010 – Dec. 2012

• Served as a primary contact for resolving technical/LMS issues in eleven programs across six universities.

• Developed and managed project plans and timelines for launching custom LMS installations; produced and published regular status reports; managed relationships with third-party vendors; and prioritized and tracked service requests from demanding clients, shepherding them to resolution. SELF-EMPLOYED – Chicago, Illinois 1999–2009

Freelance Consultant // Jan. 1999 – Dec. 2009

Provided support and completed technology and education-related projects for a wide range of companies, including: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

• Tested performance, and reviewed and rewrote content, on a variety of websites for a national product- marketing campaign.

SCORE! Educational Centers

• Managed development of QBox, a proprietary online question-item authoring and project-management tool. Reported directly to VP of Instructional Technology and collaborated closely with QA staff.

• Developed curriculum and conducted training for QBox, both in person and remotely via web conference. P a g e 2

BrainWorx Studio, Inc.

• Edited and rewrote four-volume English-language textbook series.

• Prepared materials for production. Extensively rewrote instructions, activities, and exercises on a wide variety of subjects (e.g., vocabulary, reading strategies, basic grammar, and elements of literature). McDougal Littell / Houghton Mifflin

• Edited reading selections and analyzed testing exercises to ensure accuracy, clarity, and consistency throughout.

TRANSUNION – Chicago, Illinois 1992–1999

Information Design Analyst // Jan. 1998 – Dec. 1998

• Directed online-documentation standards team, created to develop a company-wide set of standards for online help modules, error messages, etc.

• Supported Documentation Manager in recruiting and hiring new staff; reviewed all résumés, evaluated writing samples, and devised questions to interview potential candidates.

• Developed online help systems and user documentation for both PC and web-based applications.

• Created RoboHELP software introductory training course for new members of the documentation team. Documentation Specialist // Jan. 1992 – Dec. 1997

• Responsible for writing and editing technical documents, including Sales Training Guide for TransUnion Credit Report (company’s flagship product), and Standard Operating Procedures manual for Corporate Operations division.

• Developed online help systems and user documentation for both PC and web-based applications. SKILLS / SOFTWARE / LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Adult learning methodologies Education Instructional development

Adult learning theory Experiential learning Reinforcement learning

E-learning Instructional design Training

Adobe CC HTML / CSS Microsoft Word

Audacity JIRA MySQL

Articulate 360 Loom ServiceNow

Camtasia Microsoft Access Twine

Dreamweaver Microsoft Excel Visio

Google Docs Microsoft Outlook Wrike

Google Sheets Microsoft PowerPoint Zoom

Google Slides Microsoft Teams

Angel Canvas Sakai

Blackboard Moodle 1.6, 1.9, 2.1

EDUCATION

KNOX COLLEGE

Galesburg, Illinois

Bachelor of Arts in English Writing

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