Employment History

Following is additional information and clarification on some complexities in my résumé.

Writer or Tester?
Mac or Windows?
Do You Know...?
Position Specifics—Microsoft
Position Specifics—Apple Computer

Writer or Tester?

I have a Catch-22–like challenge securing new employment. Those seeking quality-assurance staff question my writing-heavy experience, while those looking for writers have similar difficulty with all the non-writing job titles.

Writing is my preferred gig, with all considerations equal. Yet I also enjoy tracing an application’s logical progression, so testing work falls to a close second place. (I enjoy coding, in fact, but the sole coding experience I have is with a couple of niche languages and numerous 4GLs.)

Necessity, too, can dictate the positions I accept.

Regardless of the position, I’m often given writing assignments within that context. Tasks that folks have had stewing on the back burner suddenly (sometimes miraculously) find their way to my inbox. And sometimes I just see what documentation is needed and do it, on my own time if necessary; it’s just rude letting those who come after fumble around when I could easily alleviate such confusion.

Mac or Windows?

I have known difficulty within the industry with recruiters who retain a platform bias. Those seeking Windows professionals balk when they read “Macintosh”, as do Mac recruiters when they spot “Windows”.

Now, I prefer Macintosh and run all of my home computers under the Mac OS. Privacy and security—and my control over their definition—were a top priority in my platform selection, and experience has taught me Windows still offers less than I require. Windows is too easily and frequently broken, and remains a target for denial-of-service and viral attacks.

That doesn’t mean I don’t know and appreciate Windows. I started with Windows 1.0—on 5.25" floppies and no mouse!—and have worked my way through every release since. I’ve administered NT workgroups and 2000 servers.

I knew DOS before either platform and enjoy working in UNIX. I’ll undoubtedly move my personal network to UNIX—whether Linux or Mac OS X—at some point. What this comes down to is that though I have a preference, I don’t hold any bias toward platform. If it has a keyboard, I can use it.

Do You Know...?

The last time I compiled a known-applications list, the document ran to four pages—single spaced and in three columns! I no longer maintain that list, it’s too unwieldy. At this moment (June 12, 2003, 9:13 AM), 2,261 executables reside on my primary computer. Lots of dross, sure, but that number doesn’t include internal-use tools or anywhere near all of the programs I’ve supported over the years.

In a nutshell, I’m one of those annoying people who needn’t crack a manual to make a program jump through hoops, but does read the docs cover-to-cover just the same. You find the coolest tips buried inside manuals.

Position Specifics—Microsoft

12/1999: Hired by Volt; contract at Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Campus, working on Internet Explorer 5.0 for Macintosh.
03/2000: Project completed; “loaned” to the UltimateTV team.
12/2000: Hired by the Microsoft WebTV Network, a wholly owned subsidiary.
01/2002: WebTV company phase-out; transferred to Microsoft Corporation.
04/2002: TV services reorganization; received lay-off notice.
06/2002: Laid off by Microsoft.
06/2002: Hired by Volt for a contract at Microsoft, QA work on set-top boxes.
11/2002: Contract completed.

Position Specifics—Apple Computer

03/1995: Hired by Volt for a contract at Apple Computer, coding the eWorld on-line service (on an AOL backend derived from AppleLink).
10/1995: eWorld closed down.
11/1995: Contract picked up by Integration Quality (IQ).
04/1997: Contract completed. (IQ decimated at this time, but contract seen through to its end.)
06/1999: Hired by Volt for a contract at Apple Computer, in hardware seeding.
10/1999: Reorganization; early contract completion.

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Established: Wednesday, June 12, 2003
Last modified: Saturday, April 22, 2006

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