This brief page gives a little background on my career and my interests, as well as some ideas about what kind of work I am most interested in  and the sorts of job titles I could assume.

  • To just see my resume, move down to the links at the end of this page.

  • To get a sense of what I really want to do in my next "job", move down this page to here.

  • To see samples of my writing, jump to the link at the end of this page.
photo of Timothy GILL
After years in various roles in software development (for details, see my resume), I am looking to change direction a little—towards positions that integrate the various things that I do best, and that I enjoy the most, or positions that will stretch me a little but which I think I could do well with my skills, interests, and mind set.  But let me digress a moment...

Career Overview
I wanted to work with computers before there were many college majors in it, but in my first jobs, as much as I loved programming and creating tools, I was struck by the low quality of information I had to work with and the difficulties in accessing it, which started me thinking about those problems and refining my writing skills.  I also found pleasure in seeing my “customers” satisfied and putting aesthetic touches on my work, and found many ways to use my highly organized nature.  But I was increasingly frustrated by the problems of building quality software.

This motivated me to get a Masters degree in software engineering, a great educational experience and a time during which I came to appreciate robust tools and features for advanced users, as well as the value of good conceptual models.  This led to many years in the Unix industry, working on feature requirements (one way to make better software), tools (power, models), configuration management & administration (organizing), and documentation (improved information and access).   I became a document management person probably before the term was generally used, and was quick to adopt hypertext tools; and knowledge sharing, usability, and simplicity became top interests.  I greeted the Web with delight, as a platform with exponential potential for improving information access, but the devil is still in the details, be it a web site or service, a software product, or a user guide: features, the quality of the information, the design of the information, usability, simplicity.   Getting these right is increasingly the basis for a better user experience for any type of software or information product—and what I want to focus on.

Where to Now?
 Looking back, I see that I am usually drawn more to the process of improving the software products—and interfaces—that I work with than to the creation of them from scratch (alas, there is no end to the software, and consumer products, I use regularly that could benefit from significant improvement!).  With information, though, I love to both create it and improve it, and to make it accessible, to make it really work for the customer.

I think my  strengths would really shine in a setting where I can exploit my drive to constantly improve information, software, and the usability of interfaces, and where I had a role that combined work in product feature requirements, information access and design, document management, technical writing, & usability—and where creating a radically improved information experience for customers, both internal and external, is a high priority.   Doing so for very large  target audiences would really get me fired up.

So, some roles and situations I am looking for include:
  • technical/leadership role in any organizational effort to provide better, more usable, more complete product/consumer/technical  information to customers, and to improve their access to that information
  • enterprise document management: document manager, requirements analyst, administrator, consultant, systems/sales engineer, product manager, technical lead, trainer, technical writer
  • a (very) large effort to build customer knowledge bases by taking advantage of the power of hyperlinks into PDF documents using permanent URLs (e.g., a consumer electronics manufacturer who wants to make all product manuals more helpful, usable, and accessible)
  • systems engineer, sales engineer, business analyst
  • technical writing of various kinds: technical information targeted to a technical population, product evaluation, product reviews, technical Op-Ed, end user documentation, internal organizational documentation, developer documentation
  • product management for software, web services, or consumer electronics
  • technology research & analysis
  • product and interface usability, evaluation, and testing
  • information manager, information services, information design
  • process improvement, customer advocacy

A few writing samples from both inside and outside a work context are available for reading, and links to other more technical, work-related ones are available.
My resume is available in 3 formats:
NOTE:   I am not available for relocation from the northern New Jersey / New York City area (unless you have my dream job).
My references are also available:

Timothy GILL
Maplewood, New Jersey

TDG-2009@tgill.us                                                                                   0908190630       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

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