<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">As I think I mentioned last Fall, my job at Yahoo! started to fall apart in August after my manager resigned and the division underwent a reorg. My new VP didn't grok what I did (or why I was being paid "so much" to do it) and my position was eliminated at the end of November.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">I've been looking for work since December. This is more difficult for me than for many people because the things I excel at don't fit tidily into typical job titles or search engines at job sites.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">I've been a programmer. My preference is for internal tools and data filters. Historically, I've written in Perl, but my OO Perl skills are largely nonexistent and, while I used to be more than competent, I'm 7 years rusty.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">I've been a tech writer / editor, with a preference for internal documentation. I love to write, but I like to be able to talk to my audience to assess their needs, etc. So, I prefer how-tos, tutorials, and the like to API documents and externally facing users' guides.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">I enjoy doing technical support, but, again, internally focused, preferably level 2 or 3. I don't want to read the manual to people; I assume that they are competent to read the manual for themselves.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">For the past 5+ years, I've worked primarily with TWiki -- answering questions, developing applications, writing how-tos, presenting training... I am very likely one of the most knowledgeable TWiki experts you are likely to meet. (I am outstanding in a very small field. ;-) </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">The most common question I get in interviews is: "Your resume is... eclectic. You've done writing, coding, QA, support, project management... What do you _like_ to do?" </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">My current answer is "I like to help. I want to feel needed. I want to help my co-workers, preferably internal engineers, to be more productive." I'm a troubleshooter, a facilitator, and a problem solver. I love solving problems through improvements in internal communication. I like working with wikis and weblogs. I enjoy writing. I enjoy building tools to solve problems.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">I loved my TWiki support role. I was very good at what I did, received excellent customer feedback, and enjoyed my job most of the time. When I read articles about "finding your passion" or "putting your strengths to work", I want to find another job like the one I had most recently.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">Several co-workers have told me that I should call myself an information architect. (Unfortunately, I have never created a wire frame.) Some of the best feedback I've gotten includes:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "> Vicki is the kind of person who "hears" what it is you are saying, and then gives you what you want, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "> which may not be exactly what you asked for -- but much better!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "> Vicki is an exceptional technologist with a firm grasp of the combination of programming and process </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "> management required to turn a disparate group of engineers into a streamlined machine.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "> Vicki is a talented writer, a detailed editor, and a thorough tester. It is unusual to find someone who</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "> has the technical background as a programmer, who enjoys testing and documenting. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">Does your company have a position for me?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; ">-- Vicki</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "> <a href="http://www.cfcl.com/vlb">www.cfcl.com/vlb</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/vlb">www.twitter.com/vlb</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "><br></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace; "> <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/vlbrown">www.linkedin.com/in/vlbrown</a></span><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="monospace"><br></font><div apple-content-edited="true">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Monaco; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">-- Vicki<br> <a href="http://www.cfcl.com/vlb">www.cfcl.com/vlb</a><br> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/vlb">www.twitter.com/vlb</a></div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "> <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/vlbrown">www.linkedin.com/in/vlbrown</a><br></div></span></div></span></span>
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