Testimonials
What my employers and customers say about me…
“Sandra has done an excellent job supporting me and my team of Deployment and Help Desk personnel on [various] programs in the area of technical documentation.”
“Seeing Sandra’s work is the best way to appreciate how thorough and well designed all her projects have been.”
“From technical manuals, training material, quick-reference cards, and web-based material, her work is always very accurate, extremely professional, and helpful.”
“Her work is used internally for our support and sales groups, externally by our customers, and at all levels of senior management. These projects have been complex, working with material in the video surveillance, military training, and coal industry communication and tracking system areas.”
Her work is always very accurate, extremely professional, and helpful.
“Although she did not report to me directly, I know her to be a very dependable, conscientious, and hard-working individual capable of interacting well with customers as well as her co-workers and senior management. She takes the initiative and is motivated to complete projects on time and within budget.”
“In summary, Sandra will be an asset to any organization and will contribute, in a positive manner, to the success of that organization. I highly recommend her for any position for which she is being considered and would hire her myself if allowed the opportunity.”
~ Dave Ciaverella
Help Desk Manager (former)
L3 Technologies
“Sandra Elam has provided The National Right to Read Foundation with excellent editorial and technical writing material…She has edited The Right to Read Report, done investigative reporting on some of the root causes of illiteracy, and clearly presented her findings in her articles.”
“Sandra took the initiative to design our original website years ago, then updated the design several years later. The website changed our foundation from paper-based to Internet-based. Since we no longer had to print and mail education articles to inquirers, the website saved us countless labor hours and thousands of dollars.”
“The quality of her work is excellent, and she works independently with a minimum of supervision. It is difficult for organizations like The National Right to Read Foundation to find individuals who can quickly learn complex subject matter, internalize it, and then provide a clear and complete analysis for others to read and understand. Sandra has that ability.”
“Integrity, hard work, and competence are a difficult combination to find in an employee, and I can say without qualification that Sandra meets and exceeds these qualities.”
“As an independent contractor, Sandra is able to meet tight deadlines, and is very conscientious in making sure her work meets the highest company standards.”
The quality of her work is excellent…Integrity, hard work, and competence are a difficult combination to find in an employee, and I can say without qualification that Sandra meets and exceeds these qualities.
“Personality is an important part of any employee profile. Sandra has a positive outlook on life. She has a sunny personality, and works well with those to whom she is responsible.”
“She is cooperative, and willing to listen, and yet has a sense of direction and attention to detail not often found in many outside contractors. While she is working for your company, she is your employee and willing to put everything she has into the assigned project.”
“I highly recommend Sandra as a person well suited to her profession, competent in her work, and a valuable addition to the volunteer staff of The National Right to Read Foundation.”
~ Robert W. Sweet, Jr.
President and Co-Founder
The National Right to Read Foundation
“Sandra Elam recently completed documentation for a new software product released by our company. I am pleased to say that I found her work to be of the highest quality.”
“Her ability to listen to product information, ask pertinent questions, and then produce documentation that demonstrates a solid understanding of the material goes well beyond that of any other writer with whom I’ve worked.”
“I particularly like her ability to summarize the intent of the product up front and provide a “Quick Start” guide for those users who don’t care to know all of the details before beginning to use the product.”
“Sandra’s writing ability is clear, concise, and to the point. Because she explains the action as well as the reason for the action, readers are not likely to become confused about what is being described.”
“I was always very pleased with how simple she made even the most complex procedures sound. I was especially impressed with her ability to organize information into charts to further enhance the reader’s understanding.”
I found her work to be of the highest quality…Sandra’s writing ability is clear, concise, and to the point.
“I am certain that anyone retaining Sandra’s services will be pleased with the results.”
~ Pamela C. Scott
Human Resources Product Manager (former)
PayAmerica
“Sandra Elam worked for me at Marsh-McBirney as the lead technical writer. Her main responsibility was to write manuals for our flow meter products, which included all phases including: creating writing standards, manual design, writing, and preparing for production.”
“When Sandra started working for us, we wanted to upgrade the manual for our most popular flow meter, the Flo-Tote. I wanted a completely fresh start on how our manuals worked and I decided to entrust the entire job to her.”
“I suggested that she attend our Flo-Tote training class where we train customers on how to use our products. Sandra took good advantage of this opportunity by not only attending class but by also learning about our products as though she were a customer. At the end of the training, she not only understood our products and customers, but also made several suggestions to improve our training.”
“When the manual was completed, it drew praise not only from new customers but from older customers as well. We also made it part of our training class and it served as the basis for creating a video on how to use our meters.”
“Marsh-McBirney had created a company vision that included the goal of employees working off-site. Sandra became our experiment in this area and it worked very well, in large part because of her professionalism.”
“Sandra kept me informed of her progress and stayed in touch with other employees as needed. Working off-site allowed her to concentrate on design and writing instead of day-to-day problem solving. We saw an increase not only in productivity but also in the quality of our manuals.”
“Sandra also took initiative when problems arose; once when she was dissatisfied with some existing artwork, she sought out a technical artist and, with my permission, oversaw that subcontract.”
“Technical writing is an interesting combination of engineering and art. I have seen writers become very guarded of their creations, and my philosophy is that they have the last word on the creative aspects.”
“I remember one meeting when we were reviewing the rough draft of the Flo-Tote manual. One of the customer service technicians had reviewed the manual and suggested a major change in the manual’s organization.”
She has a great combination of customer focus, organization, technical understanding, design skills, and writing ability.
“I thought his idea had a lot of merit, but I held back my opinion to see how Sandra would react. At first she was opposed to the change, but as everyone discussed it, she was able to see the other point of view. In the end, Sandra embraced the change and within a short period of time had reworked the manual. The result was a major improvement to the manual.”
“In sum, I think very highly of Sandra. She has a great combination of customer focus, organization, technical understanding, design skills, and writing ability. I enjoyed working with her and know she will be an asset to her future employer.”
~ Steve Sawtelle
Engineering Manager (former)
Marsh-McBirney