Director of Engineering @ NinjaCat.io | Leading teams building GenAI + LLM + data powered features; DevOps, FinOps and FunOps™ too
How to write clearly can be unclear. Brooks E. Scott - Executive Coach helped my writing with a "see one, do one" method during a coaching call. He and I took a look at a recent email I wrote and he edited for clarity. Then, I did the same. It was an immediate 💡 moment. As a former sports editor and wanna be journalist, you might think I had that skill. I guess clear writing is 90% mental and the other half is physical and I struggled with both. 😄 Here are a couple tools I've used to improve my writing. In case you don't have a coaching call with Brooks on the books. (If you don't, you should! Thanks Brooks. 💪 ) Know of other good resources? Let me know in the comments so we can ~all be a lot less wordy, use simplistic terms and avoid long run on sentences filled with jargon~ be more clear. https://hemingwayapp.com/ - "Hemingway app makes your writing bold and clear" is their tagline. It's a very useful app for writing, from work docs to personal messages. See a brief example of improving a resume summary below. I owe Adam Long a country ham biscuit or three if I ever meet him in NC. https://textio.com/ - Write inclusive and valuable job descriptions (and more) with Textio https://lnkd.in/gQWVB3x5 - "Every engineer is also a writer." A set of courses that can help you improve technical writing. https://lnkd.in/gfBgNrFN - ChatGPT and other LLMs are helpful in starting ideas, summarizing long text, and giving you an editor-in-a-box like experience. https://lnkd.in/gMdNtky7 - Harsh but fair focus from Anthony D. Mays on how to improve a tech resume. 📝 Remember your teachers writing feedback that filled your page with red ink? 🔴🖊 Reading this feels like that memory in all the good ways. # Using Hemingway to Improve Your Resume When I'm updating my resume, I post snippets into Hemingway. I use their app to see if I can be succinct and clear. Software engineering is full of acronyms and technical terms. You can't avoid them in a resume, but the rest of your text can improve. Here's a screenshot of a few random "Summary" snippets that you might find in a resume. You'll see how Hemingway highlights them and gives you visual feedback on how to improve.
Andrew Ennamorato! It's so cool that you remember that conversation we had! I think I offered to give you $100 for every word you could take out but still keep the message clear and with the same tone. Ha! Do I still owe you? I'm proud of all you've done and honored about the mentioned! And, I wouldn't say you "struggled". You're a super-talented writer and I've learned a ton from you too.
Great post! I definitely use Hemingway App for every post I write and have started to incorporate LLMs for research and brainstorming ideas. There really is no excuse for poor writing, even for engineers.
Director of Engineering @ NinjaCat.io | Leading teams building GenAI + LLM + data powered features; DevOps, FinOps and FunOps™ too
5mohttps://procomm.ieee.org/communication-resources-for-engineers/style/write-clearly-and-concisely/ - Prob should have put that on the list.