Michael O'Brien's Résumé

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Employment Background

• September 2004—Present: Part-Time Instructor for UNM
• September 2000—December 2002: Teaching Assistant for UNM (see Page 4 of C.V.)
• December 1991—November 1999: Technical Writer for Cisco Systems, Inc.
• July 1990—November 1991: Test and Repair Technician for Cisco Systems, Inc.
• March 1988—July 1990: Field-Service Engineer for Perkin-Elmer, Inc.

Employment Details, Technical Writer, Cisco Systems, Inc.

• Designed, researched, developed, wrote, and released paper-based and online (HTML-based) technical documentation for Cisco Systems' Cisco 12000 series, and entire Cisco 7000 series, Cisco 7500 series, and Versatile Interface Processor (VIP) family of internetworking router products.
• Consistently and successfully converted highly technical engineering and marketing specifications to "plain English" suitable for Cisco Systems' customers/end-users.
• Worked independently and as member of scores of project and task teams.
• Consistently tracked and managed multiple document projects in parallel.
• Worked with Cisco Systems' technical writers, program managers, and technical editors to design new document types and templates.
• Served on committee to develop Cisco Systems' first corporate style guide.
• Served on department-wide committee to develop new documentation models for improved consistency across Cisco Systems' business units.
• Served on scores of product teams throughout complete product development cycles.
• Prepared and managed hundreds of paper and online document edits/reviews.
• Researched, investigated, and verified technical information required for all technical documentation projects.
• Worked closely and effectively with Cisco Systems' engineering staff and management to develop accurate and usable customer (end-user) technical documentation.
• Conceptualized/designed illustrations for technical documentation, and coordinated development/creation efforts of graphics artists and technical illustrators.
• Successfully met or exceeded all document deadlines and product/document ship dates.
• Served on Cisco Systems' team tasked with publishing online technical documentation, and helped launch first documentation-CD-ROM product.
• Successfully saved Cisco Systems approximately $200,000.00 in annual printing costs by redesigning several technical documents and books as two-book set.
• Designed and helped coordinate successful installation of Cisco Systems' first usability testing facility.
• Served on task team to implement Cisco Systems' first online, documentation database.
• Successfully teleworked as full-time technical writer (July 1995-November 1999).
• Consistently maintained highest annual performance ("focal-review") levels throughout entire tenure with Cisco Systems (July 1990-November 1999).

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Curriculum Vitae (C.V.)

Following are the details of my C.V.

Academic Record

• M.A. in English, University of New Mexico (UNM), 2003 (Graduated with 4.07 GPA.)
• B.S. in Electronics Engineering Technology, DeVry Institute of Technology, 1988 (Graduated with 3.56 GPA.)
• A.A.S. in Electronics Engineering Technology, DeVry Institute of Technology, 1987

Areas of Specialization

• Technical/Professional Writing
• Technical Editing
• Data-Communications Writing
• Music and Audio Writing
• Sound-Reinforcement Writing

Academic Honors

• Received Tau Alpha Pi engineering honors through DeVry Institute of Technology (1987).
• Received first-place honors (and prizes) from DeVry's English Department for original short story "It's Nothing Sweetie Just the Wind" (1988).

Professional Honors

• Received dozens of Individual Performance Awards (IPAs) for special efforts for and technical writing with Cisco Systems (1990—1999).
• Received one International Award of Excellence, three U.S. Awards of Excellence and one of Distinguished, and one U.S. Award of Merit from STC, for Cisco Systems' technical documentation (1992-1999).

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Educational Experience

• Wrote M.A. thesis, "Working Inside Cicero's Closet: Communications Solutions for Teleworking Technical Writers," between January 2002 and March 2003. (Successfully defended April 7, 2003.)
• Made index-editing presentations to Prof. Lynn Beene's Editing classes (November 1999 and November 2002).
• Made Framemaker® v6.0 desktop-publishing presentation to Prof. Charles Paine's Documentation class (December 2001).
• Used Framemaker® v6.0 to produce all graduate papers and projects, as well as to design unique, multi-chapter book template for M.A. thesis.
• UNM graduate coursework included the following:
  • Documentation
  • Hypertext
  • Editing
  • Introduction to the Profession of Writers
  • Nonfiction Prose Stylistics
  • Introduction to the "Beat" Writers
  • Language and Rhetoric Seminar: Nature and Science Writing
  • Teaching Technical Writing
  • Teaching Composition
  • Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers
  • Thesis Writing (three semesters)
  • College Latin (four semesters)

Publications

Independently wrote and published numerous professional-music articles in Bass Player and Bass Frontiers magazines (1997-2001), including the following:

• Jim Scholten: Role Playing with Sawyer Brown, Bass Player, February 1997, 18—20
• Is There Another Kind of Harmony? Bass Frontiers, Volume 7, Number 3, 2000, 38
• How to Be the Best Bass Player in Your Living Room, Bass Frontiers, Volume 7, Number 4, 2000, 38
• Choosing the Right Tool for the Right Job: A Modular Approach, Bass Frontiers, Volume 7, Number 5, 2000, 38
• Find a League of Your Own, Bass Frontiers, Volume 8, Number 1, 2001, 38—39

Independently wrote and published scores of technical documents (~4000 pages) for Cisco Systems, as well as 17 books, which included the following:

• M and C Chassis Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1992
• AGS Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1992
• AGS+ Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1992
• Cisco 2500 Series Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1993
• Cisco 2500 User Guide, 1993
• Cisco 7000 Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1993
• Cisco 7010 Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1994
• Cisco 7500 Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1994
• Cisco 7505 Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1994
• Cisco 7507 Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1994
• Cisco 7010 User Guide, 1995
• Cisco 7505 User Guide, 1995
• Cisco 7507 User Guide, 1995
• Cisco 7513 Hardware Installation and Maintenance, 1996
• Interface Processor Installation and Configuration Guide, 1996
• Cisco 7500 Series Installation and Configuration Guide, 1997
• Cisco 12012 Gigabit Switch Router Installation and Configuration Guide, 1997

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Professional/Academic Experience

• Taught English-219, "Introduction to Technical Writing," as UNM Teaching Assistant (TA) (Fall 2000—Fall 2002).
• Garnered consistently excellent teaching evaluations as UNM TA through five consecutive semesters (Fall 2000—Fall 2002).
• Served as Technical Editor for Director of Nursing Research at University Medical Hospital (UMH) (2001—2002).
• Involved with Med-Tutor's Program through UNM's English Department and University Medical Hospital (March 2001—September 2002).
• Edited several successful grant proposals to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• Edited two successful doctoral theses for members of UMH staff and administration.
• Conducted grant writing/editing seminar for members of Nursing Research Council at University Medical Hospital (June 2001).

Professional Affiliation

• Society for Technical Communication (STC), since 1992
  • California: Silicon Valley Chapter (1992—1998)
  • New Mexico: Kachina Chapter (1998—2006)
• Kachina Chapter's volunteer Webmaster Online Job Bank Coordinator (1999—2001)
• Voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS, 1997—present)

References available on request