Budding copywriter

Short version: 2 promotions, repeated raises. I manage more than $20,000 of products weekly in the second busiest Publix in the state and am a go-to person for guiding new hires.

Say your occupation is "car salesman"​ and some people react as if you said "terrorist recruiter." So I had to be extremely polite to win over initial suspicions and patiently guide them through the benefits of different cars.

Wrote letters convincing home occupants that, yes, this housing survey is legitimate because the Census Bureau is active more than every ten years. Convinced people to spend a substantial chunk of time for free answering questions about frequently private matters.

Convinced distrustful homeless people to provide personal information and persuaded homeowners irritated by previous census takers to give the information again.

Did research for books authored by faculty, proofed preliminary versions of books, researched and prepared lesson plans, substitute taught for adjunct faculty. Edited papers for publication in The Vulcan Historical Review.Organized and controlled inventory of 800 instructional videos. No one was in charge, so I made myself responsible for them.Mediated student disputes over grades. Unhappy students are hard to convince.

Discovered and wrote news stories on deadline while the sole reporter for a county with three different population centers, wrote column on local affairs.

Wrote about a region with seven towns and a large unincorporated area for the state's largest newspaper. One of the towns had just 70 people. It was sometimes a challenge to find something compelling to write about it, but I prided myself on finding things about all of my communities that would interest not only those who lived there, but also people who lived in other places. Expanded coverage into a neighboring county and attracted new readers.

Promoted to city editor, responsible for half of the newspaper's reporting staff. Supervised, assigned stories to, and edited work of reporters and correspondents. Served as the newsroom's front line for dealing with the public.Wrote editorials on local issues and acted as the voice of the newspaper. One tongue-in-cheek piece on a divisive topic was, an observer said, "the talk of the Lions Club."Produced, edited, and chose content for Time Out!, a weekly entertainment section, and oversaw the 17-member staff of Voices, a section written by local high school students. All work for Time Out! and Voices was done in addition to responsibilities as a reporter.Covered 20,000+ student Auburn University, the area's biggest employer, K-12 schools in three school systems, police, local government, and courts. Wrote hard news and quirky softer stories on daily deadline. Conceived, designed, and implemented an assignment system that made clear to staffers what photos and stories were due when. Streamlined weekly story budget meetings and changed them from dreaded, hours-long productivity killers to half-hour planning sessions.

Led turnaround of chaotic, low-morale unit resulting in improved maintenance and repair record.Wrote lots of equipment status reports using a format that required concise, almost stingy, phrasingCoordinated inspection preparations for shipwide inspection. Inspectors noted the ship was "particularly well prepared."