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Webmaster & Data Entry Clerk

Real Estate Data Services/Commercial Print & Copy – Tallahassee, FL

Webmaster: August 2008 – June 2010

Data Entry Clerk: September 2005 – June 2010

Job Duties

For Real Estate Data Services, I stared out as a Data Entry Clerk. However, my daily tasks actually consisted very little of actual data entry. My primary task was to download, clean, sort, and organize home property sales records that the company obtained via public records for thirteen Florida counties. I used a variety of custom created macros in Excel and several functions to first remove those records with incomplete data. I then organized the data and got it into a printable format for the company’s main product: The Real Estate Report Card. I eventually reworked the procedures several times to slipstream a lot of the tasks. I recreated new macros to make the procedures faster and more efficient. These changes cut the time it took to complete the procedures in half.

After graduating from FSU, I was promoted to a Webmaster position. This became my second duty. Not only did I update and maintain the various websites I created for the company (including the company's own website), I was also asked to create websites that incorporated PHP & MySQL. I worked on several sites, including sites that deal with personalized marketing and local business marketing. These sites used PHP with a MySQL backend. I also designed the layouts and did all of the coding for these sites.

In my last year, I began doing a variety of work for my boss' Mayoral campaign. I created his original campaign site, as well as various logos, etc. I eventually created a website called TalGovSpending that tracked and monitored the spending of the City of Tallahassee. I developed the site entirely by myself using PHP and MySQL and I created a searchable database that users could go to see where the city is spending money. The design for the site was made to mimic the main campaign site. I also created various video and audio files for the campaign as well as completed a variety of data entry related tasks.

During my entire five years with both companies I was the technical support person as I fixed a variety of computer issues, including networking, printers, hardware and software.

Technical Skills Acquired

• XHTML & CSS – Although I had knowledge of the language coming into this job, I have picked up a lot of new techniques and experiences working on several sites. The sites I have created have given me my first real professional web design experience. All the sites I had created in the past were for personal use or for friends and family, so this experience has proven very helpful in furthering my website development skills.
• PHP - Since recently taking over the position of Webmaster, I have gained great skills in PHP development. Although the sites that I have created are not large scale, they have still taught me a great deal about using PHP to create flexible, dynamic web pages. The skills I have gained with PHP have allowed me to now create sites that have a database backend, allowing me to take my website designs to the next level.
• MySQL - In my time with learning PHP, most of it has been in conjunction with learning MySQL database management. Most of the databases I have managed have been smaller databases that are more flat-file databases than anything else, but I have picked up many skills on how to create databases, maintain them, and use them as a backbone for dynamic websites. I have also solidified my knowledge of basic level MySQL queries and learned to use the common phpMyAdmin.
• Advanced Excel – I have learned that Excel is a very powerful tool. I have learned how to create custom macros, both by recording them and by hand coding them using the Visual Basic editor. I have learned to work with pivot tables and other data tools such as text-to-columns and filters. I also have reworked custom functions and use several built-in functions such as Concatenate, Trim, and Proper.

Transferable Skills Acquired

• Office Communication – In this job, I have learned a lot about working in a professional environment. This is my first office job and I have learned how to work and communicate in a professional office setting. I have gained experience in communicating via email in an office and how to participate in meetings.
• Time management – With all of the procedures I frequently run, I have learned how to manage my time and prioritize tasks. The tasks all vary in importance, so sometimes I have to put certain tasks behind so that I can complete my crucial duties first. This has helped me learn how to manage my time when faced with many repetitive tasks and deadlines.

Samples

• Website Designs – These designs are my first real professional website experience. I have designed several websites for the company, including the company's own website. My most recent samples, such as ThinkTally and TalGovSpending, include websites that incorporate PHP and MySQL databases.
  
  View TalGovSpending.com - I developed a site for my boss Steve Stewart, a candidate for the Mayor of Tallahassee. This site is a searchable MySQL database that allows you to track and view the spending of the City of Tallahassee. This site is the best indication of my current skill level.
  
  View ThinkTally - This is one of my favorite designs to date. This site uses a MySQL database and PHP to create a list of locally owned businesses in the Tallahassee area. The site's design, and the database are ready to go, but some of the content is still under development.
  
  View RDSPurls - In this design my goal was to go with a simple graphical representation of the information. The site did not need many pages, so I went outside the box a bit, outside the box for me at least. It's a bit different then most of my designs.
  
  View Personalized Real Estate Marketing Page - This personalized page will be different depending on the person viewing it and the house they live in as well as the neighborhood they are part of. This sample is a good showcase of my current PHP & MySQL skills as the data on the page will completely change for each person depending on what information is stored for them in the database.
  
  
• Real Estate Report Card – This is the final format for the completed data. All of the procedures and macros are used to get it ready for this format. I did not create this format. I merely prepare the data so that it fits into this format.
  

  Download the Real Estate Report Card (PDF) - (26.4 KB)