This is how my typical cover letter starts out when I deliver it as a PDF in a drop box on an employer’s job site.
I write out the full name of the state. If there is an envelope for a printed letter, that carries the standard two-letter USPS abbreviations because envelopes are sorted by machines. But our states have nice names, many of them from Native languages—thanks for the land; now you go live somewhere else—sonorous identifiers: Massachusetts, Michigan, Dakota.
As my resumes morph by the hour adapting to sporadic suggestions of what is best right now, for the cover letter, I stand fast by the traditional format for a real letter.
Most people want to shape their public selves into an acceptable image. (The formal study of impression management originated with Erving Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life; 1956, 1959). And I understand that. I also know that sooner or later they are going to find out the truth, so you might as well be upfront about it.
I am a writer. I like writing. I like to think that I am good at it. I take words seriously. I believe that much verbal understanding develops subconsciously by the continuous integration of events in context. We understand the traffic sign PED XING because we long ago accepted XMAS. However, those are temporal regionalisms that might not cross into your reader’s worldview. (Even though I know the word “Weltanschauung” I did not use it there where it could have held a lofty place.)
I have met other technical writers who do not criticize their own work. They trace a wiring diagram or a pipe flow and what they say about it is delivered to the reader without any further challenge. I always ask myself: If I did not grow up here and now—If I never saw this machine opened up—If I were new to this interface—what would these words say to me about that?
Most teams looking for a technical writer want to make sure that I have continuous and direct experience in whatever their current platforms happen to be. They seem not to care if my work is understandable to their clients. I am sure that the hiring team will look at my submission and judge for themselves how well I write but that is another local-subjective fallacy because those managers will not be the ultimate consumers of the works which I create.
In our world, we accept prima facie that money declares its value in units of account: Five $5 Dollars; Quarter Dollar. That is a relatively recent invention. The traditional gold pound sovereign coin of the United Kingdom now with the image of Charles III still has no unit of account on it. American numismatists know a somewhat rare colonial Connecticut coinage, privately issued by the owner of a mine. The motto reads: “I am good copper value me as you choose.”
Dear [Employer Name]:Profitable documentation turns the reader into an actor in a story. The best documentation is an asset that is portable and extensible. It can be translated without muddle.
- I have done this for json scripts, fluid piping, industrial controls, and regulatory compliance.
- I crafted white papers and blog posts for managers and made single sheets to be hung on machines for operators.
- I interviewed engineers to create procedures that read at a sixth-grade level for a multi-processor industrial controller.
- The State of Kansas used an article that I wrote on the future of money as part of their standard 11th grade literacy test.
As a freelance writer, I have published business profiles about
- laboratory and electronics developers
- musical theater
- flight instructors
- retirement communities
- and restaurants.
My focus is on the ultimate consumer, the person who will be applying the information to their work.As a member of the Texas State Guard for five years, I taught the WebEOC emergency management platform. My client learners included frontline computer operators and their commanders in the general staff.As a public programs presenter at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, I created and delivered presentations in kitchen chemistry to mixed audiences. Researching the life of the first working scientist to publish a science fiction story, I told the story “From Texas to the Moon with John Leonard Riddell” as a magazine article and as live performances at both numismatic and science fiction conventions.Your clients and their customers will benefit from the fact that I am flexible, innovative, adaptable, and creative. I keep track of my goals and I make my benchmarks. I work well in a complex and changing environment. I look forward to discussing with you the talents that I can bring to you, your clients, and their community.Thank you for your time and consideration.Sincerely,/s/Michael E. Marotta
Dear [Employer Name]:
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You need someone who can start training your AIs for documentation. I can do that. I took a class in ChatGPT through LinkedIn Learning and I now work tutorials in AI concepts from Brilliant. I am currently editing a book of science fiction stories set in Austin 2078. Of course, I have decades of experience in technical writing. The most recent ten years of that is on my resume. You need someone who can say, “I have seen the future and it works.”
That was said by an apologist for Russian Marxism. So, no, that future did not work out well but Lincoln Steffens was enthusiastic. And you need someone who has the spirit within: en-theos-astic.
The job description and qualifications did not ask for evidence that my writing is readable. You will evaluate the samples I sent but I must ask: against which standard?
I created procedures for a multi-processor industrial controller at a sixth-grade reading level. The operators must understand the Help and the engineers should grasp it at a glance. I placed a peer-reviewed article on numismatics with the British Association for the History of Astronomy. It read at a 10th grade level. Astronomers usually read at a university level but this was new information for them from a different but equal discipline. The State of Kansas used an article that I wrote on the future of money as part of their standard 11th grade literacy test. I wrote that article in 1995. You will find it included in this application.
My master’s degree is in social science. Although I am not gregarious, I interface well with development, production, administration, and sales because I take a sociological viewpoint of other cultures. On the Myers-Briggs, I am right down the middle for INTJ / ENTJ.
=> People with NT preferences … typically take a “what else can we do” approach to leadership. They tend to consider new ways to address tasks and projects, and often have an innovative mind-set that is about changing things up to make a situation better. — https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Access-Resources/Articles/leadership-and-the-intuitionthinking-nt-process-pair
As a freelance writer, I have published business profiles about retirement communities, political lobbyists, laboratory and electronics developers, musical theater, and restaurants. My focus is on the ultimate consumer, the person who will be applying the information to their work.
As a public programs presenter at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum and at the Texas Museum of Science & Natural History, I created and delivered shows in everyday science to mixed audiences. Researching the life of the first working scientist to publish a science fiction story, I developed the story “From Texas to the Moon with John Leonard Riddell” as a magazine article as well as live performances at both numismatic and science fiction conventions.
I held the rank of petty officer 2nd class (E-5) in the Maritime Regiment of the Texas State Guard. Previously assigned to training and development where I wrote plans and tracked performance, my final post was to be the regimental public affairs officer. As the PAO, I managed our Facebook page.
I worked for Kawasaki and Honda after taking a college class in Japanese for business. At Honda, just “Ohayo gozaimasu” in the corridors was enough. At Kawasaki Robotics, while teaching operations and programming, I also translated parts lists; I even answered the phone one night and routed the call.
I worked for three German firms: Carl Zeiss IMT, EOS North America, and Kapsch Trafficom. For Zeiss, I translated an engineering booklet from German to English for our office in Detroit. Here in Austin, I did most of the work for EOS with Google Translate which I checked for correctness. I took German from the 7th grade through my sophomore year in college. When I was in the ninth grade, I entered a speech contest. Registering late, all of the slots were taken except for Native Speaker. I took first place. But that was then and this is now. Es ist eine lange Weile gewesen seitdem ich Deutsch gesprochen habe.
As the AI named Wintermute said to the hacker Flynn in the novel Neuromancer by William Gibson, “Minds are not read. You still have the paradigms that print gave you.” I have been working on this problem for a long time. I can deliver what you need.
Sincerely,
/s/
Michael E. Marotta
ON TECHNICAL WRITING
Documentation is Specification
Readability is the Only Metric
Technical Writer Job Description
PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS
An Online Class in Astrophysics
Observing With NASA: An Open Platform for Citizen Science
