February Meeting: "Speed Resume-ting"

For February's chapter meeting, STC Chicago eschewed its traditional meeting format. In honor of Valentine's Day, a "Speed Resume-ting" session was held on February 16th to help attendees tighten up their resumes. Despite the Saturday morning meet-up time, roughly 10 intrepid souls from all over Chicagoland braved the sub-20s temperatures to attend.

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The event, held at The CARA Group's Oak Brook headquarters, was inspired by speed dating. The following format was (more or less) followed after enough caffeine was imbibed:

1. Everyone had stacks of their own resumes with enough copies for each other person at the table.
2. All stacks were passed to the left.
3. Participants were given two minutes to view and mark up the top resume on the stack.
4. When time was up, the top resumes were placed on the bottoms of the stacks, and the stacks were passed again to the left.
5. This was repeated until the stacks made it back to their original owners.
6. The idea was that recruiters only look at most resumes for a few seconds to form their initial opinions. Therefore, given only a short time to view and comment, participants were able to focus on those ever-important first impressions—what worked (or didn't) and what stood out.

Attendees were given two minutes to read and mark up others' resumes.

Once everyone's marked up resumes were returned, the floor was opened to general questions and discussion. Here are some of the topics that came up:

• Serif versus sans-serif fonts
• Functional versus chronological resumes
• Value of value added statements
• Ideal section arrangements
• Inclusion of months on start and end dates
• Means to emphasize what recruiters want to see
• Mixing present and past tenses for currently held positions
• Ideal page counts
• Tips and tricks

After the general discussion, the group broke into pairs or trios so attendees could receive more detailed feedback on their resumes. Advice and business cards were also exchanged. Finally, CARA’s own Lisa Vitale, a recruiting manager for the company, was kind enough to answer some questions from the group.

Participants discuss their resumes on a one-on-one basis.

The seemingly low turnout was actually a boon; the group size was perfect for meaningful discussion with only a little chaos. Attendees left with advice, answered questions, new ideas, and (in at least one case) pastries.

Thank you to those members who made it to the event despite frozen fingers and toes—there would be no event without you. Thanks also to Linda Kelley for facilitating the event and minding the stopwatch to keep everyone on track. Finally, a very special thank you to Lisa Vitale, for sharing her experience, and The CARA Group, for sharing their space.

We Appreciate our Chapter Members

Becky answers an ice breaker question.

What better way to spend Leap Day than getting to know your fellow STC Members? On February 29, 2012, STC Chicago chapter members gathered at California Pizza Kitchen in Schaumburg, Il to play games and socialize. Things got off to a rousing start when President Elizabeth Burke presented a tub of 500 questions. Each member had to answer a humorous and telling question about themselves. For example, "If money were no object, what would you do in one day?" Or, "If you were hosting a special guest, who would it be and what meal would you serve them?"

Laughs filled the night as members learned a little bit more about their fellow meeting attendees.

The meeting was a nice change of pace from the traditional meeting. While the speakers and topics are always interesting, this meeting presented a chance for members to relax and socialize in an unstructured environment.

And now that March is upon us, we look forward to March's meeting: our Recognition and Awards Banquet. Hope to see you there! 

Upcoming STC Chicago Events - August 2011

SmartDocs: Content Management and Content Reuse in Microsoft Word
August 11 – Noon (CDT) – 1-hour Free Webinar

Join us for a free 1-hr product demo of SmartDocs presented by Lisa Pietrangeli, Director of Client Solutions and Bryan Lynn, Director of Technology at ThirtySix Software.

» Learn more and register today!



2011 Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase
August 16 - Day-long Conference at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson, Chicago, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Join STC Chicago, CCASTD, and CISPI for a cutting-edge exploration of new media and interactive tools for elearning. With over 30 speakers presenting 24 breakout sessions in 6 different tracks, there will be something for everyone involved in creating or delivering elearning.

» Details available at the conference website



A Partner Presentation Meeting: Optimizing Content Reuse in Unstructured and Structured Authoring Environments and How to Build a Business Case: Selling Your Ideas to Your Company

August 25 – Partner Presentation Meeting at Charlie’s Charhouse, Elk Grove Village, 6:30 pm check-in, program at 7pm

» Location and Registration Information

October Meeting: Social Media Truth or Dare

Join us on October 14th as our "Truth or Dare" series takes on Social Media, an area some technical communicators have engaged enthusiastically, some view as a necessary evil, and many still wonder, "what's the point?"

This meeting features a panel of local social media experts who will tackle social media, what works, what doesn't, and what - exactly - is the point.

For more information about the panel, location, and registration, visit our website.

Meet the New STC Competition

You're invited to attend the STC Chicago 2010 Competition Preview meeting, September 15th, at the Lincoln Center in Downers Grove. This year's competition managers will discuss changes to the competition, including the entry and judging forms (you can find these forms on our web site).

This meeting is free! But if you plan to attend, please let us know. The meeting will be held from 7 - 8, with networking from 6 - 7 beforehand, at Lincoln Center in Downers Grove.

For more information about the competition and this meeting, visit our web site or contact the competition committee.

Great Meeting Last Week

It was great meeting with STC Executive Director Susan Burton in Chicago last week. Actually, we held several interesting meetings, including one with Chicago Alliance Liaison Beth Lisberg Najberg. We also met with a group of STC Chicago members at Siemens in Buffalo Grove.

Susan told us about some of the interesting initiatives STC is pursuing this year. She also gave an update on STC's efforts to revisit the current definition of "technical writer" used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Good conversations, all round. Thank you again, Susan, for stopping by to talk shop with us.

Be sure to check out the Winter 2009 issue of Byline for more about Susan's visit to Chicago.

(STC Exec. Dir. Susan Burton addresses members at the STC Chicago chapter meeting in November.)

2008-2009 Program Year Off to a Good Start

STC Chicago launched its 2008-2009 program year with substance and style at the Carleton Hotel in Oak Park last night. A big thanks to patent attorney Bob Brill for doing a presentation on intellectual property law and its implications for technical communicators. A summary of the presentation is available here.

It looks like it's shaping up to be another great year here in Chicago!

The Brand Called You

Before I attended last November's evening seminar, I didn't know much about the topic of branding, so I checked the Web. Found an article by Tom Peters who periodically appears on TV programs, radio, and has written several books about the corporate world and especially its management. In the article's section, What's the pitch for You?, Peters mentions ways to brand yourself that Glory Borgeson had also mentioned -- join a special project or task force, write articles, speak or attend industry conferences, lead meetings, etc.

April chapter meeting

For details, see www.stc-chicago.org.