Ann Neumann

Cal Poly - B.A. English, 1979

Other degrees/certificates:

M.A. English, 1986; JD, Law, 1995

Current city/state:

Sacramento, CA

Employer:

Los Rios Community College District; CPS Human Resources Services; Contracts with California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento County Municipal Services, Sacramento County Water Quality, California Department of Justice, and other state and county agencies.

Job Title:

Instructor, Writer, Small Business Owner

How Long in Current Position:

20 years

Brief description of position duties/responsibilities:

Professional trainer and instructor for business, legal, technical, and academic writing; tutor professionals and students in writing and grammar; review and edit government documents and manuscripts, write resumes and cover letters and other workplace documents.

What specific qualities/abilities, skills are necessary for this position:

Small business skills, creativity, analytical skills, people skills, flexibility, oral presentation skills, writing skills across the professional spectrum (business, technical, scientific, academic, public), teaching skills.

What advice would you give to someone interested in your profession?

Being a professional trainer for government and the private sector requires all the skills of a stand-up comic, a psychologist, a drill sergeant, a coach, a politician, a magician, and a masochist. It's a very demanding profession, requiring you to be "on" 8 hours a day, day after day, doing the one and only thing people fear more than death--speaking in public.

Is there anything you'd like to personally add about how you found your way to your current career since graduating from Cal Poly as an English major?  Any memorable epiphanies that marked major turning points on which path you chose?

Knowing how to take a dry, dreaded subject such as workplace writing and grammar and weave it into a mesmerizing adventure that both enlightens and entertains takes tremendous stamina and stupidity. Subjecting yourself to the scrutiny and challenges of a new group of people day after day is not for the faint of heart. Every group has a bad apple--or a dozen--that find no greater joy in life than to suck the joy from your life. You must ignore them and teach to the ones who want to learn. You must have nerves of steel and an insane passion for either your subject area or for teaching or for the paycheck. As well as it pays, though, it's never enough. And repeating the same material ad nauseum makes you feel like you are a wind-up toy with a lobotomy. Don't get me wrong. It's been a great profession, one I fell into by dumb luck, but one I am grateful for. But you have to be ready for a life on the stage.

Contact:

aneumann@jps.net

 

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