Details
Preferences
Primary Role
Working Style
Suggestions
Priorities
Type of Employment
Location
Travel
Rates
Billing








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Vicki Brown
Internal Documentation and Content Management
I believe in using the best tool for the job.
I work primarily with Unix (BSD, Linux, Solaris, etc) and Mac OS X.
Although I can use Windows, I will be far more productive using Mac OS X.
Note that many of the sections below list preferences or constraints.
My preferences are just that - they describe what I would prefer out of
a set of choices.
If a given preference causes you a real problem if you think it's
a deal breaker let's talk about it. There's usually room for negotiation.
On the other hand, constraints or limitations are just that.
As an example, I do not travel. If the job involves a travel requirement, please
let me know up front.
Primary Role - Internal Documentation and Content Management
My primary interest area is internal communication and content management.
Examples include intranet web content, internal tools, employee training
materials, and internal
documentation of all forms (e.g. software overviews, how-tos, presentations,
etc.)
I prefer to be primarily engaged in duties that consist of one or more of the following:
- Application of systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users, to determine hardware, software or system functional applications.
- Design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications.
- Documentation, testing, creation or modification of computer programs related to the design of software or hardware for computers operating systems.
Not coincidentally, the above descriptions are part of the necessary criteria for overtime exempt qualification under California Labor Code, Section 515.5.
Also not coincidentally, I prefer not to be engaged in writing
material, (e.g. product descriptions, documentation, promotional material,
setup and installation instructions, and other similar written information)
either for print or for onscreen media or to provide content intended to be
read by customers, subscribers, or visitors to computer-related media (e.g.
the WWW or CD-ROM). To do so would disqualify me under CA Labor Code section 515.5.
Instead,
I prefer to work directly with and for my clients, where these clients are software engineers and other employees within the organization.
I am highly skilled and proficient in the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized information to computer systems analysis, software engineering, and documentation.
I most enjoy work that is intellectual or creative and that requires the exercise of discretion and independent judgment.
I have learned how to take a "flexible" approach to changing product
requirements and priorities. I'm well versed in "multi-tasking". I have a proven
ability to work independently with minimal direction or supervision either
onsite and from my home office.
Milestones & Status reports
My preferred
working style is to set milestones for the project and to
provide frequent status reports no less often than twice a month.
These allow the client and myself to continually update and track my
progress on a project.
Company Size
I have worked for both large and small companies, usually independently or as
part of a small team. I do not have a preference for large vs. small. My
preference is to work with a competent, intelligent, quality-oriented team.
I consider it part of my job to make
suggestions
and recommendations when I see something
that doesn't seem, to me, to be working as well as it could. You may find
this to be a bit odd at first. I try to put
my recommendations in a positive light. If possible, I don't just point out
problems; I try to propose solutions.
I don't, however, feel that it is a requirement that the world accept every
suggestion I make or that every bug report I file be addressed or solved
and certainly not in the way I recommend. I understand that Input is Not
Voting. As I've told several clients for whom I have done work:
"My job is to make suggestions. Your job is to consider those suggestions
and act on them, or not, as you choose."
How will you win me to your team?
You'll do better if you offer me smart co-workers and a quality-oriented
process rather than if you tell me about beer bashes and basketball courts!
Take a look at my list of priorities.
I also prefer to match as many of the checkpoints below as possible:
- A Unix environment (Solaris, BSD, Linux...).
- Macintosh friendly; I use Mac OS X by choice as my desktop
environment. I am grudgingly willing to use Windows for very short-term (or
high-pay) contracts.
- Ideally I will be working on some number of the following
- internal documentation
- process creation/improvement
- web content creation
- Web site management
- Internet/Intranet applications
- data analysis
- internal tools
- No more than 20% administrative (sysadmin, meetings, etc).
- Time flexibility - my preference will be for jobs that don't insist on
my presence on site all day, every day, or for rigidly required hours. (See
below, Location.)
Contract (W2 or 1099)
I'm available for contract work -- full-time or part-time, short term or
longer term.
No project is too small to be considered.
FTE Salaried
I am willing to consider salaried positions.
As an employee, I am nevertheless apt to
consider myself to be working in a client-services relationship.
San Francisco Bay Area
My preferred location includes San Francisco's Financial and SOMA districts,
the Peninsula, and north-western parts of Santa Clara county along the 280
corridor..
I will also consider locations on the eastern side of the South Bay
if they are readily accessible via public transit.
Or Telecommute...
I will be most interested in situations which permit me to
telecommute
from my office in San Bruno as much as
possible,
coming in to the client site for meetings and status updates.
I have a proven record of being able to work productively offsite from my
well-equipped office.
After nearly two decades of
daily commutes, office politics, cubicles, and dealing with
too many distractions instead of real work,
I realized that I am more relaxed and
far more productive working from my private office.
My clients benefit from that as much as I do.
... to Anywhere
I am happy to consider 100% telecommute contracts for jobs located
beyond the
SF Bay Area (but see the next point: Travel).
I do not travel. This is not negotiable.
I am not interested in any positions that involve any travel
outside the San Francisco Bay Area
(beyond what can be accomplished by car, round trip, in one day).
Rates - negotiable
Contract rates may vary based on project type, length, and location.
Quoted rates will take into account the length and difficulty of the commute.
A surcharge may apply if I must use Windows instead of Mac OS X.
In any case, I will always ask a minimum hourly rate on all
non-salaried, hourly positions, to ensure exemption from California overtime
regulations:
In 2006, the minimum hourly exempt wage is $47.81.
This value is based on the Consumer Price Index and
may be adjusted annually by the CA Division of Labor
Statistics and Research.
See
California Labor Code, Section 515.5
(esp paragraph a.(3)), for details.
I am willing to accept either salaried positions or hourly compensation.
However, for your benefit and protection, as well as my own,
I prefer not to make
fixed-rate bids.
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