My résumé

I've just gotta say some things:

I generally feel that a resume sometimes isn't a really good way of getting the true essence of a person.  At worst it  will get filtered out based on certain keywords that a prospective employer is looking for.  Though interviews and good references certainly helps out with that, I feel that it still doesn't always convey the complete picture - the work ethic, or the passion for the job, or the quality and pride of one's work.

Who I am on the job:

First of all, I suggest taking a peek at my "Being A Nice Network Geek" page for some insights and attitudes that I've developed over the course of the past few years.  I'm the kind of person who really cares about what I do, at times to a fault and (unfortunately) usually at the expense of my family time.  However, I do realize that to an extent, it's par for the course for what I do.

One of the things that really separates a senior tech vs. a junior or mid-level tech is that it really requires a certain amount of resolve to fix a problem.  Two of the most stressful times in my life (and probably my best accomplishments) happened at my last job:

1. Watching a RAID on the company's critical Sun 450 box just completely die when I had extremely minimal Solaris experience at hand at the time (and stayed up for 2 days straight trying to get it going with a consultant), and:
   
   
2. Getting our datacenter colocated at Exodus moved to an MCI datacenter, getting a Veritas cluster failover solution for our production Sun servers (an E450 and a 4500) in place, and getting the infrastructure for a new 3 tier web-enabled application up and running within the same 3 month period.
   
   

As much as I really hate to say it, I work best under pressure and sometimes I need a little room to repeatedly beat my head against a wall to make something work.  I think it's important for an IT person to experience a network completely fail in front of their eyes at least once and not panic.  I think it's important for an IT person to keep an even temperament and to have a laid back friendly personality while being somewhat bulletproof to criticism.  I think it's important for an IT person to look for solutions instead of placing blame.

What kind of job I am looking for & what I have to offer a prospective employer:

I am currently a Senior-level Windows admin looking to break into a more unix / linux or Cisco centric world (even if it's considered a part time duty).  I definitely have some unix stuff behind me, but would like to refine that.  I also have some interest in programming, but have zilch, zippo, nada experience in that area.

If I have to take somewhat of a salary cut to get what I want, I'm open to discuss - to a large extent, it's much more important for me to be happy where I'm at than to take a high paying job that I'm miserable at.  If I need to learn a language like some Java or Perl or C or learn a new OS while I manage Windows duties, that's fine too - I always like the exposure and the opportunity to learn something new.

I've worked on NT since 4.0 Service Pack 1 (and even have some 3.51 and winframe/metaframe), and have worked with Exchange since 4.0 Service Pack 2 including having done migrations from MS-Mail -> Exchange, MS-Mail to Lotus Notes THROUGH Exchange, and cc:Mail -> Exchange.  I've also done the whole Arcserve and Backup Exec with GFS rotations, backup agents, etc.

If you're interested in having a good generalist and troubleshooter with a wide background of skills and a lifetime around computers, please take a peek at my resume and see if this looks like it's up your alley.

My best qualities are in my opinion:

When I get stuck on an issue, I have a tendency to put on blinders and focus.
I work well whether I'm alone or in a team situation.
I communicate well and work hard.

My worst qualities are in my opinion:

When I get stuck on an issue, I have a tendency to put on blinders and focus (yes, this can be a double-edged sword).
At times I could be more politically correct (I know how to play the game, but prefer not to).

Why I'm looking for a job:

Well, as of the beginning of this year, I have officially been laid off.  Our corporate office where I was working had a transfer of power over from the West Coast to the East Coast.  As a result, Corporate East Coast decided to shut down Corporate West Coast in the process and unfortunately left quite a number of people unemployed.  I'm not really bitter or angry about this (maybe a little disappointed), but I'm more concerned that I'm now joining the the ranks of unemployed United States I.T. workers in a recessed economy that is now at war.