San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication

About the program

Have you been applying for jobs via company websites but not getting interviews? Chances are you are being weeded out incorrectly by the company’s applicant tracking system (ATS).

An ATS is a web-based job application platform that uses AI to rank how well it “thinks” you match the job for which you are applying. Make just one tiny mistake in your resume and boom! you are disqualified.

In this session, professional recruiter Jack Molisani will offer valuable advice for beating (and avoiding!) ATSs.

Want to get more interviews in your job search? Don’t miss this meeting!

YouTube Recording: Get that Interview! How to Beat the Dreaded Applicant Tracking System

Slides from the event: Get that Interview! How to Beat the Dreaded Applicant Tracking System

About the speaker

Jack Molisani is an STC Fellow, and the President of ProSpring Technical Staffing, an employment agency specializing in content professionals (both contract and perm): https://ProspringStaffing.com

He’s also the author of Be The Captain of Your Career: A New Approach to Career Planning and Advancement, which hit #5 on Amazon’s Career and Resume Best Seller list: https://www.amazon.com/Be-Captain-Your-Career-Advancement/dp/0962709026

Jack produces The LavaCon Conference on Content Strategy and TechComm Management: https://LavaCon.org

Note: Jack has been known to donate a free virtual entrance to LavaCon as a door prize, so stay until the end of the May STC meeting!

Event Info

Time: Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 6:30 PM Pacific

Location: Zoom

Program:
6:30 to 7:00: Networking
7:00 to 7:25: Announcements
7:30 to 8:30: Presentation
8:30 to 8:45: More networking
~ 8:45: End the Zoom meeting

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82414326338

Meeting ID: 824 1432 6338
One tap mobile
+14086380968,,82414326338# US (San Jose)
+16699006833,,82414326338# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 824 1432 6338
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kQKmupVX8

Important notes:

• Members of other chapters welcomed. If you belong to another STC chapter, you can attend our meetings.
• IABC members welcome. All members of the San Francisco Chapter of the IABC are welcome to register for Berkeley STC General Meetings.
• Non-members can attend. You don’t have to be a member to attend our meetings.
• Tell us if you’re hiring or job-hunting. Attendees are encouraged to announce open positions or to announce that they are searching for work. Feel free to bring job listings, resumes, or business cards for distribution.

About the program

Networking. You keep hearing that word throughout your career development, but you don’t know much about it, much less, how to do it. You want to connect with technical and data professionals, so you attend events such as your local users group. But what about your book club, your gym, your church group, or your kid’s soccer game? Those are prime — and overlooked — opportunities to network!

In this interactive session, we will discuss networking — what it is, why it’s important, and where opportunities exist. You will even have an opportunity to practice networking within the confines of our meeting. You might even leave this session with new networking contacts that you didn’t previously have!

YouTube Recording: Networking 101: Building Professional Relationships

Slides from the Event: Networking 101: Building Professional Relationships

About the speaker

“My job is to make other people’s jobs easier.”
Ray Kim is an advocate for documentation and technical communication. He is a co-founder of the Albany, NY SQL group (CASSUG) and a member of the STC. He has spoken at the PASS Data Community Summit and STC Summit, as well as at numerous SQL Saturdays and other events. He has held various positions in technology, including as a developer, webmaster, analyst, technical writer, and instructor.
Ray holds an MS in Technical Communication from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS in Computer Science from Syracuse University. He currently works as a Technical Writer and Trainer for The Research Foundation for SUNY.

A musician in his spare time, Ray plays four different instruments (piano, clarinet, mallet percussion, and saxophone). He also enjoys going to ball games and doing CrossFit, and is a two-time SQLServerCentral.com fantasy football champion. He lives in Troy, NY, with his wife, Lianne, and their tuxedo cat, Bernard.

Event Info

Time: Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at 6:30 PM Pacific

Location: Zoom

Program:
6:30 to 7:00: Networking
7:00 to 7:25: Announcements
7:30 to 8:30: Presentation
8:30 to 8:45: More networking
~ 8:45: End the Zoom meeting

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86388481798

Meeting ID: 863 8848 1798
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,86388481798# US (San Jose)
+14086380968,,86388481798# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
        +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
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Meeting ID: 863 8848 1798
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbgkbQ7Fph

Important notes:

• Members of other chapters welcomed. If you belong to another STC chapter, you can attend our meetings.
• IABC members welcome. All members of the San Francisco Chapter of the IABC are welcome to register for Berkeley STC General Meetings.
• Non-members can attend. You don’t have to be a member to attend our meetings.
• Tell us if you’re hiring or job-hunting. Attendees are encouraged to announce open positions or to announce that they are searching for work. Feel free to bring job listings, resumes, or business cards for distribution.

About the program

A writer, like any specialist, is hired for his or her expertise. In a business environment, a writer’s expertise should include some knowledge of copyright law, to help the client or employer avoid legal troubles related to use of intellectual property. You can’t count on software developers, business managers, or others in your organization to understand the limitations that copyright law puts on how intellectual property can be used.

Joe Devney will share the basics of copyright law in the United States, presented from the technical writer’s perspective. This will include what can and can’t be copyrighted, what uses of intellectual property are or are not permitted, and how to identify and remedy copyright infringement in company documents. He will also share real-life examples from his own experience as a technical writer.

The talk will include discussion about how the introduction of generative AI tools like ChatGPT has made the situation more complicated.

This presentation is designed primarily for technical writers, but anyone who has to write or edit business documents—especially for a company whose main business is not publishing—can learn useful information.

YouTube Recording: What a Tech Writer Should Know about Copyright Law

Slides from the Event: What a Tech Writer Should Know about Copyright Law

About the speaker

Joe Devney has been a technical writer and editor since the mid-1990s. He has several times kept a client or employer from violating the law by identifying and notifying management about copyright infringement. He has formal education in issues related to language and law.

Joe is a past president of the STC Berkeley chapter (now incorporated into the San Francisco Bay chapter), and has delivered several presentations to that chapter and others. He has also given presentations related to language and law at conferences in several countries—most recently in the Philippines, where he talked about how to make contract language easier to understand. In 2014, Joe was awarded the title of Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication, the Society’s highest honorary rank, for his contributions to the Society and to the field.

Event Info

Time: Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at 6:30 PM Pacific

Location: Zoom

Program:
6:30 to 7:00: Networking
7:00 to 7:25: Announcements
7:30 to 8:30: Presentation
8:30 to 8:45: More networking
~ 8:45: End the Zoom meeting

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82414326338

Meeting ID: 824 1432 6338
One tap mobile
+14086380968,,82414326338# US (San Jose)
+16699006833,,82414326338# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 824 1432 6338
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kQKmupVX8

Important notes:

• Members of other chapters welcomed. If you belong to another STC chapter, you can attend our meetings.
• IABC members welcome. All members of the San Francisco Chapter of the IABC are welcome to register for Berkeley STC General Meetings.
• Non-members can attend. You don’t have to be a member to attend our meetings.
• Tell us if you’re hiring or job-hunting. Attendees are encouraged to announce open positions or to announce that they are searching for work. Feel free to bring job listings, resumes, or business cards for distribution.

About the program

In the 25 years that Jack Molisani has been a professional recruiter, he has seen hiring booms and mass layoffs as economies ebb and flow. However, he’s never seen hiring booms, layoffs, and mass resignations at the same time.

During the May STC meeting, Jack will offer valuable advice for proactively landing your next job or promotion in this shifting job market.

Want to reclaim control of your job search? Don’t miss this meeting!

YouTube Recording: How to Score Your Next Position in a Shifting Job Market

Slides from the Event: How to Score Your Next Position in a Shifting Job Market

Useful Article from Jack Molisani: Beating the Dreaded Applicant Tracking System

About the speaker

Jack Molisani is an STC Fellow, and the President of ProSpring Technical Staffing, an employment agency specializing in content professionals (both contract and perm): https://ProspringStaffing.com

He’s also the author of Be The Captain of Your Career: A New Approach to Career Planning and Advancement, which hit #5 on Amazon’s Career and Resume Best Seller list: https://www.amazon.com/Be-Captain-Your-Career-Advancement/dp/0962709026

Jack produces The LavaCon Conference on Content Strategy and TechComm Management: https://LavaCon.org

Note: Jack has been known to donate a free virtual entrance to LavaCon as a door prize, so stay until the end of the May STC meeting!

Event Info

Time: Wednesday, May 8, 2024, at 6:30 PM Pacific

Location: Zoom

Program:
6:30 to 7:00: Networking
7:00 to 7:25: Announcements
7:30 to 8:30: Presentation
8:30 to 8:45: More networking
~ 8:45: End the Zoom meeting

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82414326338

Meeting ID: 824 1432 6338
One tap mobile
+14086380968,,82414326338# US (San Jose)
+16699006833,,82414326338# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 824 1432 6338
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kQKmupVX8

Important notes:

• Members of other chapters welcomed. If you belong to another STC chapter, you can attend our meetings.
• IABC members welcome. All members of the San Francisco Chapter of the IABC are welcome to register for Berkeley STC General Meetings.
• Non-members can attend. You don’t have to be a member to attend our meetings.
• Tell us if you’re hiring or job-hunting. Attendees are encouraged to announce open positions or to announce that they are searching for work. Feel free to bring job listings, resumes, or business cards for distribution.