Contact John Hewitt for Writing or Web Consulting

Email: hewitt@poewar.com
LinkedIn: John Hewitt
Twitter: @HewittJohnC

I am a writer in my early forties. My professional career now spans twenty years. In my early post-college days I worked as a lobbyist and as a newspaper editor. I haven’t done either of these things for many years though. In the mid nineties I began a career as a technical writer. I have done that off and on ever since. In the early 2000s I went back to school and augmented my original B.A. in Creative Writing with a Master’s Degree in English and a Postgraduate Certification in Professional Writing. To that extent, I know what I am doing.

In addition to my professional writing career, I write fiction and poetry. I enjoy doing these things and I feel as if I have some solid general skills, but I am not a bestselling writer or poet. For the most part, I have never tried to be. I occasionally work as a freelance writer for various publications, but because I have my own (fairly well read) web site, most of my writing appears here. I appreciate those people who come to read my work here and I hope that some of my advice articles have been helpful to you. If you feel my qualifications don’t match your requirements in an expert I certainly understand. I write because it interests me.

Below, I am including my professional resume. If it interests you and you would like to work with me on a project, contact me at:

John Hewitt

Education

Northern Arizona University — Master’s degree in English with a Professional Writing Certification

University Of Arizona — Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing

Skills

Writing

Online help systems, wikis, usability analysis, application-based help systems, websites, blogs, user guides, data sheets,  installation guides, quick start guides, tutorials and training materials, reference manuals, technical marketing collateral, service-level agreements, project plans, business plans, proposals, annual reports

Web Development

HTML, SGML, CSS, XML, WordPress, MediaWiki, FrontPage, DreamWeaver, RoboHelp

Desktop Publishing

Microsoft Office, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Acrobat, ID Workbench

Graphics

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Paint Shop Pro, Visio, Corel Draw

Databases / Content Management Systems

Microsoft Access, FileMaker Pro, MySQL, Documentum, Lotus Notes, SharePoint, AuthorIt

Employment History

2006-2009 TSYS Acquiring Solutions — Senior Technical Writer

Wrote, edited and published user documentation for credit card transaction software aimed at major banks and retailers. Developed templates for and imported documents to the AuthorIt content management and documentation publishing system. Created and modified wireframes for user interface modeling using DreamWeaver and InDesign. Worked closely with the training staff to improve training collateral and coordinate our separate documentation development processes.

2006  Canyon Ranch Health Spas – Contract Technical Support

Solved software issues and provided support for a base of 700 users. Supported and used applications such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Active Directory, CLS, and SBT. Created a knowledgebase for common help issues.

2004-2005 Intel — Contract Technical Writer

Revised technical documents requiring branding updates. Edited and formatted product specification documents and graphics created by engineers and other subject matter experts.

2002  Intuit — Contract Information Developer

Redesigned and re-categorized the TurboTax online help system for increased usability and customer satisfaction. Wrote online help material for the TurboTax product line.

2000-2001 Intel — Contract Information Developer

Designed and developed an intranet site for the Intel FAB Construction Group. The new site combined the functions of multiple legacy sites into a single interface with dramatically increased usability.

1998-2000   IBM — Technical Writer / Team Lead

Oversaw team in the creation of a seven book documentation suite for Tivoli Removable Media Manager. Wrote and coded the HTML-based help interface for the product.

1997-1998  Motorola — Contract Technical Writer

Wrote service level agreements and documented standard operating procedures. Was part of the development team for the SAP disaster recovery plan.

1996-1997  HealthPartners Health Plans — Contract Technical Writer

Documented over 200 report generation programs for medical databases that had been developed using Amisys and SpeedWare for the HP/3000.

1991-1994  Public Policy Associates –  Lobbyist / Database Developer

Helped draft laws, policies and regulations on behalf of medical and dental organizations, charities, and tribal governments. Developed databases for bill tracking, form submission, and reporting.

1989-1991   University of Arizona — Systems Trainer / Courseware Librarian

Taught computer application seminars to university faculty and staff. Maintained a software testing library and consulted with users about how to best meet their software needs.