If Mohammed can't come to the mountain,
the mountain will come to Mohammed.
Something like that. If nobody is seeking
the skills I possess, then it must be time to develop skills that employers want.
On this first day among the ranks of unemployed, it's time to retool.
Everyone has to start somewhere, right?
With that in mind, the once opaque crystal ball now says look into
CCNA
Certification. While dot com and IT may be struggling in the marketplace, the
network itself continues to grow like iceplant and kudzu.
For two decades
Sun Microsystems has been preaching "the network is
the computer[tm]." I've been mired in systems work in recent years while the network
folks have been zooming into new dimensions. As I've perused the help wanted ads this
fall and winter, there have been a lot more postings for network administrators than
there have been for systems administrators.
Then there's always
A+, a certification that
says you are a competent computer service technician. I like that word: competent.
Perhaps I should find a way to work it into my resumé.
It all started a mere 10 days past
my 21st birthday in 1973. The first day I was clueless. Tomorrow is the last day.
There were a few in between.
I had this anecdotal reminiscence about
my career half way written and then I thought, no ... I want to leave looking out the
windshield, not in the rear-view mirror ... so here it is encapsulated for all eternity.
The first 20 years were fabulous, the last eight sucked.
They say when one door closes,
a window is opening somewhere else. Well, for the time being, my new job is to recognize
the right opportunities when they are presented.
What I will miss is the people. You can't
spend a quarter century with folks and not form a bond of some sort. However, most of
the peers I associated with are already gone. They were laid off last year ... or in
1998 ... or ...
So, it's with only temporary
sadness I leave my first career tomorrow. I am able to walk away satisfied with my
accomplishments, but ready to start anew with whatever comes next. Somewhere there's
a window opened to my future.
Anyone out there need someone with a
fresh, clean slate?
Computer Operations Management:
where proven strengths in perception of requirements, observation of results, analysis
of trends, and problem solving combined with expertise in systems administration will
contribute to streamlined and effective service, as well as increased productivity and
profitability.
