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Careers What do you think?
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When I left
Teamstudio in May of this year to go out on my own as Onyx Creek Technologies, I left with the excitement you always feel when embarking upon something new. I also felt pretty confident that I would be successful; after all I had done this before with Sapphire Oak Technologies, and that was a very successful venture. I began working my contacts, talking to friends, and so on - basically working my network. Nothing dropped into my lap right away, but I did have quite a few gigs "in the pipeline" - opportunities that sounded pretty confident that they would close, and I would eventually get the business.
Well, none of them dropped right away. Then, days stretched into weeks, and none of them dropped at all. As I spoke to various people, including some of these potential customers, I kept hearing a recurring theme - sales are off, budgets are tight or nonexistent, and all new spending has been frozen. Existing engagements seem to be continuing, but no
new projects are being started, or at least nothing new is being started with a new consultant. Let's just say that the economy has hit very close to home for me.
I must admit that my confidence has been pretty dented from this, but I am not one to give up; I simply need to take a different approach to finding work, and that's where you come in.
I've decided to broaden my horizons, so to speak. I want to be open to a wider variety of possible positions and careers, but I don't think a traditional resume' is going to work for me. Normally when you do a resume' you target it towards a specific job type or job; you highlight the education and experiences that make you more (or uniquely) qualified for the desired position, and you downplay - or even omit - those talents and experiences that are not related to the desired job. This is a good and proper way to prepare a resume' when you know what you want to do, and it is specific in nature; however if you're more open to a broader range of potential jobs, it is very difficult - if not impossible - to prepare a resume that is appropriate, and that adequately emphasizes all of the skills and talents that may be desired by your potential employers. This is the situation I find myself in - but what should I do?
You see, I have been very fortunate in my 17-plus year career in IT and collaborative technologies. I have had a vast and broad array of jobs and experiences, and these experiences translate well to almost any technology or industry. That's a good thing, especially since I want to open myself to potentially new experiences. For instance, I have done pretty much every phase of product and project creation - from architect to team lead to project manager to... well, you get the idea. However - and this is pretty funny, actually - I have never,
ever worked for a company as the "head IT guy" (or even ANY "IT guy"). Now I don't mean consultantcies or ISVs - I mean a corporation or business, as a part of the "in-house" staff. I've done that as a consultant to corporations, and to that corporation's IT staff, but never on the "other side of the table", so to speak. So, this is one potential gig that I'd entertain as a possible job - and there are many others that I'd be open to as well, and I'd also be open to even doing something I've done before, so I'm not ruling that out either. Remember, I've been out of consulting a really long time - four years or so - so even going back to something like that would be interesting as well.
But how can I list my skills and experiences in a way that is easily digestible and understandable? How can I list them in a way that makes it easy for a potential employer to quickly determine if I have the combination of skills they need? Well, after giving this careful thought, I think I've come up with a way.
As I look back over my career, I realize that many, if not most, of my skills and experiences are
technology agnostic. For instance, project management is project management; product management is product management; even tech support/troubleshooting is the same, as you can easily learn a new technology - the skills needed to break down and troubleshoot a problem are the same, regardless of the technology. So, I am going to list my skills in a technology-agnostic fashion. Afterwards I'll list some of the major product sets/platforms I am familiar with, to give you a feel for what I've worked with in the past. Keep in mind that you can't survive as long as I have in the IT industry if you can't learn new technologies very quickly; so even if your technology needs aren't listed, I can assure you that I can learn them very quickly if given the chance.
Rocky's Skills/Experiences (In no particular order)
- Product/Project Creation and Management
- ***NOTE:Most of the steps needed for a project are the same as for a product. Instead of listing them twice separately for both Project and Product, I will indicate if they are specific to one or the other where appropriate.
- Customer Needs Assessment
- Feasibility Study
- Requirements Gathering
- Product Architecture
- Risk Assessment
- Milestone Development
- Lead Engineer/Developer
- Unit Testing
- Feature/Function Testing
- System Testing
- Beta Testing Program Coordinator
- Documentation Writer
- Business Partner Training on New Product (Support Staff training for Project)
- Customer User Training on New Product (User training for Project)
- Presentation Creation for Trade Shows (Product only)
- Speaker at Trade Shows (Product only)
- Sales Staff Training on New Product (Product only)
- Sales Staff Collateral Creation for New Product (Product only)
- Technical Sales Support on New Product (Product only)
- Technical Support Training
- New Feature Triage for Upgrade to Product/Project
- Consulting
- Lead Architect/Lead Designer
- Technical Lead for Consulting Staff
- Lead Developer
- Technical Sales Support (i.e. technical sales engineer)
- "Firefighter"/Troubleshooter
- Staff Mentor/Staff Trainer
- Customer Liasion
- Project Manager
- Customer Training - including End User, Administrator, and Developer Staff
- Miscellaneous
- Mentoring
- Speaker Training
- Writer - Whitepapers, Magazine Articles, Books
- Customer Relationship Management
- Community Relationship Management
- Marketing
- Meeting Facilitation
- Entrepreneurial Training
- Business Partner Program Creation/Management
Here is a representative list of the products and platforms with which I am familiar. There are others - if the platform in which you are interested is not listed, please ask and I'll let you know if it is something I know. And remember, even if I am not familiar with your platform of choice, I assure you that I can be brought up to speed very quickly.
- IBM/Lotus Products and Platforms, both current and retired (pretty much all of them, and this is the area where I spent most of my time)
- IBM DB2
- Microsoft Products and Platforms, including
- Visual Basic (pre .NET)
- Microsoft Office - all products, from Office 95 through Office 2007
- Microsoft Windows - 3.1 through Vista
- Microsoft .NET (Visual Basic.NET predominately)
- SQL Server
- Microsoft Outlook/Exchange
- ...and more
- Oracle
- SAP
- Cognos
- Linux (mainly Debian builds)
- Blackberry (including BES server and MDS Developer)
- Web/Web 2.0 technologies including HTML, Javascript/Javascript Frameworks, CSS, etc.
I am also familiar with hardware, both end user (desktop and laptop) and server. I have built many servers and desktops, and have done tech support for many machines.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it. I am open to listen to any idea or opportunity you may have. Please keep in mind that I am available for a reasonable rate, and that I am open to full-time, contract, or other arrangements. I am willing to travel as well. The only thing that is non-negotiable is that I am not willing to relocate; however I am willing to travel to your location for multiple days/week as necessary. Also, with teleconferencing technology being as robust as it is today, I am sure we can work something out to ensure that my presence meets your needs.
So, if you have a need, let's talk and see if I can help you out! You can contact me in the following ways:
PH: 678 - five six two - 9225
EMAIL: rocky DOT oliver AT gmail DOT com
I look forward to talking with you!
Rock
Category Rocky's Clues
). In Rocky's Clues, you try to guess what I'm talking about.
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