Looking for work
I’m looking for a job for which a resume is not a great way to apply. I’d like to tell you a little bit about what I’ve done, instead.
I am an old school geek. By which I mean: I’ve been messing around with computers since 1987 when I was 12. I was on BBSes, then the Internet in 1994. I had my own website by 1996 when I was working tech support, and as I transitioned into helpdesk and then web design, I was hosting websites by 1997, and have had my own dedicated server since 2002. I started ou DOS and then into Windows. I’ve also run Linux - for my server, but also my desktop from time to time over the years.
I always had a reputation for figuring things out. I remember when I was still a kid - my dad gave me a copy of a game that his coworker was having trouble figuring out. I had no manual, but I figured out the keys and how to play and gave back those details.
In my most recent role of nearly five years, I was the scheduler for the Department of Performing Arts at Colonial Williamsburg. It was my job to schedule around 50 performers entire days - casting actors for performances, scheduling meetings and rehearsals and various appointments. The roll call consisted of two “sides” for every day: A list of events with staff, and a time grid showing everyone’s day in 30 minute increments. I heavily automated the process in Excel, utilizing formulas to automatically figure out the casting from the time grid to display it in the list of events; using the actor’s name to determine which historical figure they were portraying, as well as many reports about the activities and error checking. While I was not solely responsible for the entire process - working with the various supervisors and staff involved - I was the one who “did” the roll call.
Additionally, I developed systems (using Microsoft Lists among other tools) to track things such as meeting requests, fittings, various items needed to be added to the roll calls, as well as changes made after roll calls were completed - to track how often such requests were being made. These systems used trackable IDs like a ticketing system so that I could code all communications with an identifier and easily be able to search for all the communications regarding a single item. These systems provided status information - current and past - for interested parties, as well as a way to assign tasks to staff to be completed, as well as providing submission forms for requests (for meetings, etc.).
I have found that this type of work is interesting to me: Administrative work that supports others in their work. Developing, implementing, maintaining, training on systems that provide information, efficiency, and accountability. I enjoy technical administration - setting up tools such as Microsoft Teams to provide useful spaces for coworkers to flourish and enhance productivity.
And I have found that I have talents along these lines that many do not.
I’ll add more to this, but this is a good start.