Please consider me in your search for a Senior Content Writer. I have years of experience writing compelling copy for clients as diverse as The University of Calgary; forest equipment manufacturer, T-MAR Industries and Nanaimo’s Business Examiner and Daily Free Press, to name just a few.
While completing an Art Education degree at the U of A, I also served as a writer/production editor for the Students’ Union Gateway and provided news, feature and op-ed pieces for the tabloid.
Graduating with numerous courses extra to my degree, I joined The University of Calgary as a Communications Officer II. In this position, I worked with university administrators to implement communication plans for students, staff and the public. I also served as co-editor of the bi-weekly tabloid, Gazette. In this role I was often called upon to create copy that made technical information accessible to a general audience. My article on digital mapping, New ways to slice the mapping pie, with the illustration I commissioned, is an example. My profile of Beatrice Medicine, illustrates another aspect of my writing duties. I was also called upon to provide photography, illustration and design skills.
After almost five years with the U of C, I accepted a position as a Journalism Instructor at Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan Community College, where I taught newswriting, graphic design and photography, among other subjects. Relocating to Vancouver, I joined Southam Business Communications in Vancouver as Western Editor for Canadian Forest Industries Magazine, providing copy on all aspects of the business including harvesting, safety and milling. I then settled in Nanaimo where I worked as a weekly and daily reporter. Sample stories include the development of an underwater camera, for The Nanaimo Business Examiner, and Sam Struhar’s fight with WCB, for The Nanaimo Daily Free Press.
I then joined forest equipment manufacturer T-MAR Industries in Campbell River as the company’s Marketing Manager. Part of my B2B duties included conducting customer surveys; producing advertising copy, brochures and videos; designing trade show booths; and launching the company’s newsletter, The T-MAR Times.
In 2002, I began 10 years overseas teaching, primarily art and mathematics, in Libya, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Norway, the UAE and Japan. Highlights of this period include co-authoring mathematics workbooks for vocational students in Al Ain, UAE and producing a student-illustrated video of my children’s story about life from an apple’s point of view, The Apple of Albert’s Eye. Albert’s life mirrors human experience as he first comes aware of himself and realizes the obvious connections he sees to his “family tree” and those around him. Albert’s sense of belonging is challenged by the loss of Claira to a windstorm; Tyler’s teasing about his superiority in strength and size; and by Walt, a surviving apple from the season before, who tells a terrifying story of the passing of the seasons and everyone being taken away. Albert eventually finds his fulfillment in being prized for his diminutive size and helping a young disabled girl to grow and thrive.
Returning to Canada in 2012, I relocated to Prince George, BC and served as a Residential Care Worker for the Prince George Association for Community Living (AiMHi) and a Community Support Worker for Thompson Community Services. In both these cases, I worked with individuals dealing with a number of physical and cognitive challenges, including autism and depression. In addition to informal counseling, my duties included medication administration, client recreation and development activities, cleaning, budgeting, grocery shopping, maintenance and meal planning and preparation.
My return to Canada also provided me with the opportunity to launch my WordPress website to highlight my creative abilities in writing, photography, art, music and video production. I invite you to explore the links to each of these areas of my artistic expression. As a practicing artist, I also have experience writing submissions for art commissions, as my application to build and install a piece commemorating Prince George’s 100th Anniversary (parts 1 and 2) illustrates. I have a working knowledge of MS Office, Illustrator, Photoshop, WordPress and Movie Studio.
My video scripting production abilities are illustrated in my film Truck Logging in Africa and my application for the position of Traveling Ambassador for Air Transat.
Thank you for the time taken to read this letter and to view or read samples of my work on the webpage provided. I’m a creative thinker with a gift for communicating in a wide range of media and for a variety of purposes. I believe, makes me an ideal candidate for the position of Senior Content Writer. Accordingly, let me suggest that we meet to discuss the contribution I could make to Inkblot Therapy in filling this role.