Technical Writer Software
Resume:
Doug Herrington
Houston, TX 77065
****.**********@*******.***
Summary of Skills and Experience
•Fifteen years’ experience as a technical writer for industries including petroleum, IT, financial, and health care.
•Worked for the Harris County Appraisal District, writing and designing training manuals for departments throughout the organization.
•Several years of experience working for Halliburton and Sperry-Sun Drilling Services.
•Extensive experience writing software and IT guides, including complex back office applications.
•Familiar with most writing style guides, including AP, Chicago Manual of Style, and Microsoft Manual of Style.
•Developed and coordinated an online eLearning program for a major petroleum survey company, writing content and developing the curricula.
•Partially completed a Master of eLearning at Texas A&M University, attaining a 4.0 grade point average.
•Designed templates in both Word and Adobe InDesign for technical manuals and operations guides.
•Participated on a joint venture between HP and Microsoft for the release of Windows 8 in 2012.
•Coordinated a team of offshore technical writers in India, creating documentation for a major oil services company.
•Have worked extensively with common graphics programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Snagit, and Camtasia.
•Created online “help” files using RoboHelp and other authoring tools, including ArborText.
Employment Experience
Harris County Appraisal District (June 2015 – March 2021)
Position: Technical Writer
•Worked closely with subject matter experts to design a new format for a key training manuals. Demonstrated proficiency in template development.
•Experience working to tight deadlines and providing advice to senior management about the best methodologies to complete projects in a timely and effective manner.
•Researched, wrote, and edited several IT manuals for the organization’s GIS department.
•Developed documentation for the organization’s legal department.
•Demonstrated the ability to learn quickly and then apply that knowledge to the assigned project.
•Wrote and edited e-learning scripts for the organization’s Training and Professional Development department.
•Regularly edited material for supervisors and executives to ensure accuracy and clarity.
•Communicated regularly with subject matter experts to enhance project efficiency and to ensure project met projected milestones.
Gyrodata Incorporated (September 2011 – January 2015)
Position: Technical Writer
•Wrote and maintained documentation for the company’s engineering department.
•Created user guides, system administration guides, and reference material for software applications.
•Developed numerous templates to help establish company-wide standards.
•Wrote and developed the curricula for more than 25 eLearning courses for delivery over the company Intranet.
•Worked on basic graphic design for both print manuals and online courses including desktop publishing using InDesign and photo editing using Photoshop.
•Was involved in classroom instruction teaching hardware and software.
•Used Captivate 8, Articulate Studio 09, Camtasia, and Snagit to produce the courses.
•Wrote and edited both manuals and work instructions for a variety of petroleum surveying tools.
Hewlett-Packard (May 2011 – September 2011)
Position: Senior Technical Writer
•Assisted in the development of a documentation strategy determining the needs for IT professionals, end users, and factory floor workers.
•Wrote and edited a variety of documentation including functional and design specifications, Use Cases, user guides, and online help systems.
•Created user guides, system administration guides, and reference material for software applications.
•Ensured document clarity, editing material from subject matter experts whose language was not necessarily English.
•Participated as a team member in a joint project between HP and Microsoft in the development of new product scheduled for release in 2012.
•Used Visio to flowchart software and hardware procedures.
iNova Geo (January 2011 - April 2011)
Position: Technical Writer
•Wrote and edited engineering, manufacturing and assembly instructions for a series of new geo-sensors for wide use throughout the seismic and exploration industry.
•Edited and wrote highly technical IT technical specifications about such topics as Field Programmable Gate Arrays.
•Researched high level IT concepts, including semiconductor development to create new documentation and to update existing publications.
Aquilex/HyroChem (May 2010 - August 2010)
Position: Technical Writer
•Conceptualized, designed, wrote, and edited software documentation for use by many different company departments including:
• Payroll
• Shipping
• Scheduling
• Maintenance
•Worked closely with Subject Matter Experts in software development to ensure documentation accuracy and ease of use.
•Wrote and tested training material for users throughout the company
American Bureau of Shipping (February 2010 - April 2010)
Position: Technical Writer
•Updated existing print and online help files used by TankCheck, a key ABS software application. The application is used by shipping industry regulatory agencies world-wide.
•Wrote and designed training documentation.
•Worked closely with IT and other professionals to understand the software systems being documented in order to improve overall documentation ease of use.
Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids (September 2008 - January 2009)
Position: Senior Technical Writer
•Researched, wrote, and edited an updated drilling fluids manual for use throughout the company, both in the field and by more technical professionals like geophysicists and petroleum engineers.
•Edited a Lost Circulation Manual and transferred it from Microsoft Publisher to Microsoft Word to improve the ease of editing for future staff.
•Prepared training material for use at both the company’s “Mud School” but also for a technical writing course I taught myself in order to improve the writing proficiency of technical professionals.
Engineering Document Systems (September 2007- September 2008)
Position: Technical Editor
•Conducted high level edits of technical specifications, primarily for British Petroleum (BP). This required attention to detail and the ability to write according to standards set down by BP.
•Ensured style consistency, content accuracy, grammar and spelling accuracy.
•Analyzed documentation for ways to increase its clarity and readability.
Aker Kvaener Ltd. (June 2007 - September 2007)
Position: Technical Writer
Conceptualized and designed the required content – devising effective presentation strategies to facilitate clarity and ease of reading.
Redesigned and updated of the company’s all-encompassing policy manual that outlined procedures and regulations for 12 different departments.
Extensively researched and compiled existing documentation for use in new products.
Fact-checked policies and procedures to determine which needed updating.
USDataworks (March 2007 - June 2007)
Position: Technical Writer
Researched, wrote, and edited a new “Administrator Guide” for the company’s key product, a credit card authorization application.
Provided technical writing advice and editing on other deliverables.
Chorus Software (November 2006 - May 2007)
Position: Technical Writer
Wrote training documentation for use by both employees and company clients.
Wrote detailed user manuals outlining how to use a complex health care administration package used by community health centers across the nation.
Demonstrated an ability to learn complex products and produce a variety of products including online documentation, PDF documents, Word, etc.
Consulted with management on how to create new documentation for use by both employees and clients.
Education
Texas A&M University (Commerce) Partially completeted an Master of Science in eLearning. Grade Point Average 4.0.
Carleton University: Ottawa, Ontario Canada. Earned a Masters of Journalism and graduated with High Honors. (1992)
Carleton University: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Earned a Bachelors of Journalism with Combined Honors in English Literature. Graduated with High Honors.
References
Available upon request
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