Customer Service Quality Assurance

Ellen Vavak

Trainer, Instructional Designer, Technical Writer, Documentation/Usability Specialist

Bowie, MD 20716

408-***-**** **********@*****.***

http://www.linkedin.com/in/emvavak

Professional Summary: Highly experienced writing and learning strategist, skilled process and communications leader interested in helping organizations:

• I analyze business needs, learning needs, and organizational barriers

• I align training interventions to bring about measurable business impacts (using proven business metrics)

• I design writing and training that recognizes how the brain processes information and leverages that understanding to create materials that support skill development and documentation.

•In terms of technical writing, everyone can read a book about the same material. The difference is how we relate that same material in a way that impacts the reader personally so that they will remember and apply it as opposed to shelve the information which is where most poorly written documentation end up.

Specialties:

I have a proven record of accomplishment of delivering optimal results in various environments. Full life-cycle experience in designing, developing, implementing and supporting enterprise-scale training and writing programs while providing support to corporate-level staff. Recognized strategist that transforms strategic plans into workable solutions, achieving company goals and objectives while recognizing the impact of training on sales. Energetic and goal-oriented with a genuine passion for superior customer service and a well-rounded background in supporting a progressive organization in optimizing personnel productivity.

*Change management

• Project Management

•Technical Writing

• Electronic Delivery of Training & Education

• Staff Training & Coaching

• Management Training

• Program Coordination

• Performance Consulting

* High performance team development

* Process and project management

* Strategic and operational planning

* Employee communications

* Competency development

Recently, created a Google Apps Training Program which included Docs, Spreadsheet, Gmail, Calendar, Maps, Moderator, and BES. Also a contributor to the UI Technical Writing/Training team for the California Court System at Deloitte LLC, a trainer for Kaiser Permanente and Document Specialist at Training4Whizdom.

• Developed and delivered clinical operations training and documentation to hospital personnel of Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, the Veterans Administration and others. Conducted user-centered design by applying usability, workflow and the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation) of adult learning standards.

• Analyzes requirements, effectiveness of training, change management processes/practices and develops tailored training materials for client teams. Utilizes learning organizational effectiveness tools to identify and implement methodology. Applies in-depth knowledge of authoring methods to develop elearning training, user guides and manuals. Recommends and implements documentation standards.

• Develops content management, on-line help systems, informational mapping, RFPs (Request for Proposal, SLAs (service level agreements), training guides, product notes, webinars, workflow and wiki style guides. Excellent knowledge of SDK.

• Over 12 years as a technical support engineer for a subsidiary of Apple Computer.

• Creates milestone material, project plans, training plans, material and strategy, test documentation. Works with program engineers/developers on SDK (Software Development Kits) teams to troubleshoot and ensure excellent product content and behavior.

• Superior understanding of relational databases. Knowledge of Microsoft Project.

• Acts as a team leader, mentor and liaison to design training materials related to appropriate functional processes and LMS (Learning Management Systems).

• Expertise in gap analysis especially in the area of reporting. Skilled in data compilation and analysis.

• Edits and develops requirements documents and test plans according to SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and SRS (System Requirements Specifications)

• Develops documentation policies in support of standardized and accurate configuration management.

• Significant experience in research, documentation and involvement with engineering teams.

• Technical writer of a software user manual.

• Knowledge of CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration).

• Works in partnership with SMEs of SDLC including conceptualization, requirements, cost/benefits analysis, detailed specifications of software design, testing and training.

• Utilizes web conferencing tools including WebEx and Live Meeting.

• HCI (Human Computer Interaction) specialist.

• Expertise on Mac and PC platforms. Excellent interpersonal, communication and listening skills. Works well under pressure.

• Strong customer/client facing communication skills. Flexible, adaptable and facilitator in a multidiscipline environment.

Technical Skills:

• Microsoft Suite: Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook (2007 and 2010),Word, Live Meeting, SharePoint, Visio, MSSQL Server

• Google – Apps, Chrome

• Apple- Mac OSX Snow Leopard, iPhone, iPad

• Adobe Suite: Acrobat, Articulate, Captivate, Connect Pro, Flash, PageMaker, RoboHelp, (Creative Suite 4,5)

• Other – Blackberry

• Manual of Style – , MLA, Microsoft, Chicago

• IBM: ClearCase

• Databases: FileMaker, PeopleSoft and PeopleSoft UPK

• Project: MS Project including Agile Methodology

• CRM: Clarify(Amdocs), Remedy (BMC), SalesForce, PeopleSoft CRM

• LMS: LMS, Bugzilla

• Others: Agile (Scrum Process), ADDIE (Adult Learning Theory), ,SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model (specifications for web-based e-learning), SDLC (Systems Development Life Cycle), Crystal Reports, PKZip, Hummingbird, Omni Page Pro , Sarbanes-Oxley, ComponentOne Doc-To-Help, Web 2.0, API (Application Interface Design), Health Plan Insurance processes, operations and management strategies.

• ADS Systems: Cardinal Health, Epic, Intellidot, MedDispense, McKesson, Omnicell

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

US Census Bureau

Content Developer- Suitland, MD 10/2011 to Present

Develop content documentation and training materials needed by the US Census Bureau. Speciality area is PeopleSoft database functionality.

Training4Whizdom

Instructional Designer, Technical Writer, Technical Trainer San Jose, CA/DC 1/2008-12/2010

Develop and deliver training for presentation or elearning, content and course documentation, instructional materials, curriculum and documentation, knowledge information systems for various organizations. Analyze training documentation and enhance as needed for training courses. Develop and edit as a technical writer. Design and edit of web services. Development and test of databases. Clients included those in the legal, pharmaceutical and medical environments. Recently developed curriculum for Google Apps training as well as the Microsoft Suite.

Environment: Adobe Suite, ClearCase, Microsoft Suite, RoboHelp, Google Apps and others. Completed development of instructional design documentation for Google Apps Application including manuals and training.

Deloitte LLC

Technical Trainer, Technical Writer Quality Assurance Tester – Santa Ana, CA 2/2010-3/2010

Developed online, UI training documentation based on user-interface for the Public, Justice Partners and Case Participants. Conducted user interface and quality assurance review sessions with clients (Appellate Court Case Management). (The documentation phase of the project is on hold.) (The development of the California Court Management System is the most significant project for Deloitte Consulting.)

Environment: Adobe RoboHelp, ClearCase, CMMI (Capability Maturity Model) Integration, MS Project, MS SharePoint, SDLC, Visio

Pandora Data Systems (Omnicell), Scotts Valley, CA 12/2008-7/2009 Technical Trainer and Writer, Systems Tester, Instructional Designer:

Developed instructional materials for medical and pharmaceutical staff to analyze and evaluate data and make appropriate and well-reasoned decisions to support federal, state and JCAHO regulations. Conducted four webinars and two classes daily (400% increase in classes delivered). Act as Subject Matter Expert in database reports. Developed e-Learning documentation. Defined and implemented infrastructure for efficient training and support processes following the “ADDIE” theory. Delivered training to employees for such hospital systems as Kaiser, Sutter Health, and the Veterans Administration.

Responsible for the focus and design of WBT and ILT course manuals using Captivate to provide and implement industry model. Built a curriculum of five courses, brought structure to training content, and defined the expectations and goals for newly released software. Defined client needs user and technical analysis, test cases, best practices and mock-ups. Created interface, instructional and template design. Developed post assessments, job aids, high–fidelity storyboards, online help system and a knowledgebase. Provided recommendations and documentation for Engineering Department. Maintained a high level of technical support.

Environment: Agile, Adobe Suite (Captivate) using Automatic, Full-Motion and Manual Recording, Microsoft Suite, RoboHelp, SDLC, WebEx

Epiphany IT Solutions, Atlanta, GA 1/08-10/2008

PeopleSoft Technical Writer: Developed PeopleSoft curriculum for Defense (DIMHRS) project using PeopleSoft UPK.

Port St Lucie School District, FL 9/2004-06/2007

Teacher of English as a Second Language - (while attending to family issues)

Wells Fargo for Tech-Star, San Francisco, CA 11/2003-07/2004

Technical Trainer: Served as training manager for implementation of PeopleSoft encompassing the areas of front office customer service and back office workflow. Translated client needs and expectations into a fully integrated eLearning training plan. Developed and maintained documentation of business/technical requirements, test plans and training documentation. Directed interaction with engineering and quality assurance teams. Took part in the activities of quality assurance to implement training needs, ensure the accuracy of site messaging and proactively identify opportunities to improve the customer experience.

Environment: Microsoft Suite, Adobe Suite, ClearCase, RoboHelp, Agile, PeopleSoft

AT&T Corporation, Santa Ramon, CA 09/2000-07/2003

IT Business and QA Analyst, Technical Trainer: Trained over 15 business analysts for the development of enterprise CRM business requirements system. Supported over 200 users. Gathered requirements and designed (Crystal) reports for the Customer Service Organization using Requirements Traceability Management (Serena) software. Functioned as a liaison between engineering, marketing and technical groups. Enhanced user support in identifying, evaluating and developing methods and procedures that were both cost effective and met with user requirements. .

Database Analyst, Project Coordinator: Accountable for test documentation of software requirements for multi-vector, interactive system to track projects on a SQL platform. Principle responsibilities included quality assurance and maintenance of database reports on QA processes. Compiled database reports and statements. Implemented software upgrades on Microsoft SQL server.

Environment: Microsoft Suite, Adobe Suite, Agile, PeopleSoft, Remedy

FileMaker Inc., Santa Clara, CA (a subsidiary of Apple Computer) 12/86 –05/1999

Senior Technical Support Engineer, Technical Trainer and Writer: Delivered level III technical support of Claris and FileMaker applications on both the PC and Mac platforms. Specifically supported FileMaker functionality and database disaster recovery. Established and maintained relationships with customers to ensure superior customer service. Served as a Product Manager and directed the training deployment for the team. Acted as liaison between engineering, marketing, development, quality assurance and training in terms of SDLC. Produced online documentation in support of Company’s knowledgebase. Authored articles for the ClarisWorks User Group Newsletter and took on the responsibility of doing a technical edit of a software book. Maintained Quality Assurance reports, training materials, tested software updates. Knowledge of API. Expertise in database (FileMaker) architecture.

Environment: Microsoft Suite, Macintosh, FileMaker, Claris, Clarify, Adobe Suite

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Arts, Education/ Spanish Studies – Molloy College of New York- Certified language teacher (Spanish) – 7-12; University of Madrid, Spain- Study Abroad

St. John’s University- post bachelor studies. Completed studies in Instructional Design and Technical Writing at Indian River College in Florida. Currently enrolled at UMUC towards certification in Instructional Design and taking courses in project management.

Currently taking courses towards PMP and Hi-Tech Medical Certification.

CERTIFICATION in Customer Service - Publication: “Using ClarisWorks” (User Manual) -Technical Editor

Recently joined www.serve.gov.

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