Career thoughts

In the summer of 2000, I was a NOC Tech for Ziplink. At the time I was heavily involved in the design of their new Network Operations Center while revamping the software used in the then current NOC. In the early fall of 2000, I was promoted to Network Engineer. By mid-fall, the investors had pulled out and the company went out of business.

By December, I was working as a full time consultant. I made good money. I was a "Site Support Engineer" providing all aspects of computer and networking support for several regional small companies. I designed new networks, gave life support to aging infrastructure, and managed the entire IT operations for them. These were the good days. Before the bubble burst.

When the economy tanked, I spent some time jobless, living on my investments and unemployment. I took in roommates to make ends meet. From September through September... one year, I did odd jobs, took more money out of what was left of my investments, and somehow managed not to get my car repossessed.

After a year of unemployment I was ready for a job at the local McDonalds. I landed at a high end server software support gig on the other side of Boston. It was part time contract work, but it saved my sanity. The commute was absolute hell. Nashua to Quincy. I-93. Boston traffic at rush hour. Both ways. That was destined not to last.

A few months later, I agreed to a 6 month contract at lower pay as a Systems Manager for a new wireless ISP in exchange for consideration as one of the first employees. It was a compromise based on the fact that I'd rather drive 2 hours north into the beautiful White Mountains than south through Boston. This was a startup who hadn't had their first round of funding. My job was to design the servers and monitor and maintain them. Top to bottom, the servers were my job. We were on a budget and I pinched every penny.

Well... Almost 11 months into my 6 month copntract, I was laid off. Their second round of funding had not come in and they couldn't afford to keep me even at the massively reduced price. My severance pay paid me up through December 25th. Merry Christmas to me.

I was unemployed again. This time for only 5 months and no unemployment at all. I took occasional contract jobs in the mean time, being the Mac and Linux guy for a local Windows shop. It was good, but they weren't doing much business and they kept hiring the wrong sort of sales people.

I hooked up with my current job in April 2005 with the idea that it was an opportunity to get my foot in the door and as soon as I did so, work on getting back into system administration. Boy was I wrong. Great company, but I got super glued into one position with the position I wanted blocked from me. It seems that being honest about a mistake I made over a decade ago made me untrustworthy. Perhaps I should have lied. But why would they trust a liar? No, honesty didn't pay. Strike two is my lack of a Bachelor's Degree. I guess 9 years of directly related experience and an A.S. just don't cut it. I've worked hard. I've worked smart. I've put my trust in this company. But whenever I think I'm making some sort of progress, I get put down and insulted... and then my motivation quickly fades. Do I confront those who insult me? Last time I tried, I got insulted worse. So I sit and fume... that I can't even seem to get work in an operations department with almost all my experience in operations...

It is frustrating to think I will never go anywhere in this company. I want to succeed here. I want to, as my resume says, grow with my company. If this keeps up, I will have a sad decision to make.

I have been a NOC Specialist, a systems manager, and an engineer twice over yet I am stuck here as an analyst getting pushed in the direction of software development.... Something is going to give way soon.