Re: FWD: About proprietary writing samplesI'm looking at having an empty portfolio, because This is a common problem for writers with many manufacturing companies, R&D departments, and government agencies. I'm in a similar position, since everything I did for my most recent full-time employer (and for most of my freelance clients during the previous 15 years) was considered proprietary and covered by stringent confidentiality agreements. I was forbidden to retain copies of any documents (physical or electronic) from those projects. In some cases, the client even sent an audit team to examine my files, computer drives and backup disks at the end of the project. I *do* have examples in my portfolio that demonstrate my skills and the types of documents I produced, though. In some cases, I was able to prepare a sanitized version, with all identifiable names and proprietary features deleted or disguised, that management approved *in writing* for use in my portfolio. In other cases, I prepared a similar type of document (using my own computer and software) based on a commercially available product or an imaginary product for a fictitious company. In every case, I included a statement about the proprietary nature of the actual document, a brief description of the tools and skills used to create it, and a reference contact who was willing to discuss my contribution to the project without revealing proprietary details. This has worked well for me for almost 20 years. It means quite a bit of extra work, but it was worth it. Kat Nagel, who has been assured that her currently under-employed status is due to the local economic meltdown, not to any deficiencies in her portfolio <sigh> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than 5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions. Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability. Buy RoboHelp Deluxe starting at only $798: you'll get RoboDemo, the hot new software demonstration tool that's taking the Help authoring world by storm, together with RoboHelp Office. Learn more at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l --- You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info. References:
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Re: What comes after the company name?
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