Repost: Employment and College

Originally posted August 3, 2007, now archived here.

A while back I did a series of posts in “list plus elaboration” format, collecting my thoughts about as close as I could come to everything I had ever used for software and even hardware. I referred to them as an experience dump, and tied them together with links to every related post in a template at the bottom of each one. Go me.

What that didn’t cover was a more descriptive set of things of interest I’ve done over the years, be they “accomplishments” in the fuller sense, or merely less dramatic descriptors.

It will help me to create a complete set of those via the blog, because I find it easy to write such things that way, and because I can be exhaustive, including things I might not put on a resume proper.

This has a couple purposes. First, I want to create a resume for the first time since 1997. Really, since 1994, as the 1997 version was a relatively modest update of that for internal consumption to land a promotion. As an exercise, and to have ready as it might be needed. Heck, I intend to put it online for the stumbling and the pointing out. Second, for the business, the sales pitch is effectively a resume, and this feeds my ability to write that. Third, someone stumbling across or already knowing me via this blog might gain appreciation enough to make some kind of offer, even a side one, that I can’t refuse and could use. I mean, just from the related experience entries, let alone a formal resume.

I can be as complete as I want, here. With a resume, presumably even an online one that breaks the old single page barrier, you might only go back so far. While I didn’t set out to list employment, just what I’ve done, including outside of employment, I could. That might be fitting for making this an introductory post.

The rest will be, I’d say, as much as I can think of in one post, followed by either updates or additional posts adding anything I forgot on the first pass. I’ll add these posts to the experience template and embed it in each of them, tying these and those earlier posts together.

Let’s see… here’s a where, when, title and brief description of each to get things rolling. It’ll make me think about all the finer points as I write these.

XTreme Computing
1996 – Present
Managing Partner

Handled most of the business and administrative end of things. Designed, wrote, debugged, upgraded, maintained and coordinated development of software. Provided software and hardware support, with an emphasis on law firms. Setup and managed servers and networking. Worked with vendors and evaluated products and services on behalf of clients. Sold computers, both premade and built in-house, and sold parts and accessories. Created and maintained web site starting in 1997. Built and updated, or helped to build, client web sites.

Corporate Software/Stream International
1994 – 1999
Support Rep 1994 – 1995
Developer Support Rep 1995 – 1997
Senior Developer Support Rep/Mentor – 1997
Technical Development Lead (TDL) 1997 – 1999

Supported Microsoft Word for Windows versions 1.0 through 6.0, with emphasis on the latter, specializing in Word macros and drawing tools. Supported Microsoft Visual Basic versions 3.0 through 6.0. Supported VB for DOS, QuickBasic and PDS final versions until supported product life expired. Acted as liaison with Microsoft support counterparts. Pioneered and organized VB support via the web. Did technical screening of job applicants. Supervised and advised on technical and incident handling matters over twenty VB support team members. Revamped, scheduled and managed new hire training.

Tranti Systems
1993 – 1994
Support Rep

Provided mainly callback support for PC-based POS systems in the fast food industry, with some on-site support, installation and training, and remote troubleshooting using PC Anywhere.

Solo Services
1986 – 1994
Owner

Provided tax preparation, bookkeeping, a touch of computer services, and mediated dissolution of a business partnership.

Arisia, Inc.
1990 – 1992, 1994 -1995
Treasurer

Volunteered as corporate and convention treasurer for non-profit organization running New England’s largest annual science fiction convention, with terms falling in the years noted. Unofficially acted as central source of information in the planning of the 1991 convention. Worked heavily in marketing, copy writing, and program book production for 1991 through 1993. Ran or otherwise worked on sales of merchandise and advance memberships for several years of conventions.

The Renovator’s Supply
1990 – 1992
Receiver

Received, routed and tracked external and internal finished and raw materials. Stocked the picking area for mailorder fulfillment, keeping inventory accurate. Unloaded and delivered materials to the brass, medallion, metal fabrication and CNC departments. Delivered and picked up mail to and from the post office and delivered incoming mail to the appropriate departments. At times picked and packed outgoing orders, handled customer pickups, cleaned brass fixtures in preparation for dry lacquer coating, assisted the human resources manager, trained and helped people with computers and terminals, and updated the company’s material safety data sheet files.

Hannon-Miller Security
1990 – 1992
Security Guard

Provided unarmed, watchman-style security services at various paper, cutlery and cotton product factories.

Community Newsdealers
1986 – 1990
Delivery Driver

Delivered Boston Globes to home delivery customers and paper route holders. Collected and accurately tracked customer payments. Won customer-nominated Globe driver of the month service award for December 1997.

Christy’s Markets
1982 – 1986
Closer 1982 – 1983
Floating Summer Assistant Manager 1983
Clerk 1983 – 1985
Assistant Manager 1986

Rang up purchases, helped customers, stocked and fronted shelves, cleaned and closed convenience store that was not yet open 24 hours. Spent a summer filling in as a floating assistant manager at several stores, covering for manager and assistant manager vacations. Ordered, received and checked in stock. Prepared and made bank deposits. Trained new hires. Oversaw retrofitting one store with a deli counter, and subsequent operation of it, including preparing sandwiches to order.

Richard Peabody, CPA
1985
Intern

Reviewed, assembled and packaged tax returns for presentation to clients. In a pre-computer, small firm environment, prepared summaries, updated ledgers, balanced accounts, prepared working spreadsheets for accounting and auditing work by CPAs, and did most anything else for which actually being a CPA was not required. Purged obsolete files in preparation for sale of the firm.

Halliday Lithograph
1980 – 1982
Shipper

Packaged and sent drop shipments, mass and individual mailings of books on behalf of publishers via mail and UPS. Processed into transient, shipping floor or longer term warehouse inventory pallets of finished product coming from the factory, verifying counts and details against bind order sheets for each run. Repacked stock onto pallets or glide packs per specs as required. Loaded trucks. Worked with traffic manager, office staff, receiving, and factory personnel to solve problems. Counted inventory. Maintained postage/package meters, changing eprom cards as needed.

That’s as far back as I think I need to go, as there are only two piddly jobs left, and self-employment mowing lawns and such. This has brought back so many memories! Some of what might have been in the specific accomplishments might be previewed or hinted at here, but I was trying not to have them overlap too much.

Part of the way through, I realized that any resume-like review would bring up education as well, as decreased as its importance may be in time. Here, then. is the education part…

Bridgewater State College
1988
BS in Management Science
Finance & Accounting Concentration

This included classes in Pascal and Cobol.

So that’s a start. Now to do the rest, inspired by this.

Experience Posts (links to reposts):

Intro to Experience Dump
Hardware Experience
OS Experience
Word Processing Experience
Spreadsheets and Accounting
Graphics and Presentations
Database and RDBMS
Dictation Software
Communications, Internet, PDA, Blogging
Legal Industry Software
Backup and Compression Software
Miscellaneous Software
Security, Spam, Malware…
Call Center and Tech Support Tools
Languages and Programming Tools
Server Software
Software Creation

Employment and College
Experiences and Accomplishments Scratchpad