My name is Rachel Dempsey, and I am a technical writer with software development experience. My dream job would involve both writing documentation and being around code. There’s so much room to learn and grow when it comes to software development. It’s a great blend of creativity and logic (INTJ here).
Some fun facts about me: I have two shih tzus and a few cats (the Cat Distribution System has been generous). I enjoy playing musical instruments, like the trumpet and piano. I also have a harp, violin, and flute. I’m terrible at those last three, but I still enjoy playing them. Please send earplugs to my neighbors. I'm also currently in my old lady era of crafting (sewing, crochet, cross stitch, etc.).
If you have any shows you'd recommend binging, send them my way! I love the classics like Bob's Burgers, The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Game of Thrones. I'm also a sucker for the drama on Love Island... I'm currently watching The Boys on Amazon Prime, but I'm always looking for new shows that I can watch while crocheting.
If you’d like to learn more about my professional experience, please take a look at my resume and portfolio.
Write SOAP API documentation and user guides for third parties
Collaborate with Development teams to create help documentation, enhancement guides, and release notes
Software Developer, Springfield Public Schools
Mar 2021 - Dec 2021
Rewrote three older web applications using ASP.NET Core 5 and MVC to bring them up to industry standards
Wrote unit tests using NUnit and Moq
Reviewed and documented older web applications to find areas for improvement and security concerns
Researched user requests regarding internal applications
Coded bug fixes and new features for internal applications
Technical Writer, Advanced / Jack Henry
Jan 2014 - Mar 2021
Collaborated with Development teams to create release documentation
Worked closely with Support teams to create user guides
Partnered with my peers to create a Learning How to Code in Java training guide with assessments
Served as Team Lead, Information Architect Peer, and Editor
Created Release Guide deliverable to meet customer needs
Tested and helped implement new content management system (SDL Knowledge Center) for the department
Graduate Assistant / Office of Institutional Research, MSU
Jan 2013 - Jan 2014
Was in charge of the university exit exam:
Transitioned exam through two major changes: from paper and pencil to computer-based, and from proctored to unproctored
Uploaded scores, grades, and completions for 1000-1700 students each semester
Maintained exit exam website
Proctored exit exams
Updated documentation and instructions
Proofed documents and data for state and federal compliance
Prepared new program proposal forms for submission to MDHE
Education
Ozark Technical Community College
2018 - 2020
Associate of Applied Science Degree in Computer Information Science
Missouri State University
2013 - 2015
Master's Degree in Professional and Technical Writing
Truman State University
2006 - 2010
Bachelor's Degree in English
Development Portfolio
My software development portfolio consists of personal and class projects I've created using C#, Java, and JavaScript. Click each section to expand and view more information about each project.
This is an in-progress sample application I'm working on. It's a web application that would allow a small business to keep track of their invoices and customers.
This project uses MVC and onion architecture. I try to keep the controllers clean and simple so they're only responsible for returning views. I have repository classes that are responsible for interacting with the database. Service classes are responsible for being the intermediary between the controllers and repository classes.
I use dependency injection (especially with the service and repository classes) to minimize dependencies between classes.
In this instance, my project isn't using test-driven development. However, when the project is complete, I'll create a separate test project to hold unit tests. I like to write unit tests using NUnit and Moq.
This was the final project for my C# II class. It is a Windows Form application. The requirements included allowing users to select up to three players and enter each player's name. The number of text boxes for players' names dynamically appears based on the number of players selected. The categories and questions/answers are also pulled from an XML file. When the game has ended, the game results are sent to a database and past game results are pulled from the database and displayed. Data in the database is serialized.
Click the left (<) and right (>) arrows to scroll through the images.
I created and maintain the website for Barklage Piano Servicing (owner Kim Barklage), a small business that focuses on piano tuning and repairs. I created the website right after I learned HTML and CSS, and it admittedly had a 90s feel to it. I recently redesigned the website so it would a more modern feel and be more mobile friendly. I'm a believer in not reinventing the wheel if you don't have to, so I leveraged free, existing CSS resources. The new design of the website uses a website template provided by W3Schools (as does my personal site).
If you have a piano and live in southwest Missouri, I strongly recommend reaching out to Kim Barklage and visiting barklagepiano.com.
This was a console Java application I created in my Data Structures class. The assignment was to create an algorithm that could sort an array by counting the occurences of each number in the array. This sorting algorithm works best when the range of values will be known, and then when the values are either integers or can be converted to an integer system. View the project on GitHub for a detailed explanation of how I created my version of the algorithm and analyzed the problem.
This is a project that I created for fun using Java and JavaFX. I got tired of losing my (unreliable) Magic 8 Ball, so I created my own. It turns out that its answers are just as unreliable as the original... ask it for answers at your own peril!
This project was created for my Web Development II class. The assignment was to create any game using JavaScript. I chose to recreate Yahtzee. My version is a little harder, though, because I don't let you keep dice after rolling.
This project was created for my Web Development II class. The assignment was to create a web page that does an API call to openweathermap.org to get the current temperature and conditions for the zip code that the user enters. Validation has been added to make the sure that the zip code is not blank and has five digits. Users can also get the temperature in Farenheit or Celsius.
