spidra | Mar. 10th, 2006

People ask me what I'd like to be doing and I don't have a concise answer. Here's something I drafted up for someone else. If you hear of anything that sounds like a fit, please let me know.

Major components of current job:

tracking tickets with a primitive database system
tracking status of various FTP directories via email and FileMaker Pro database
communicating with teams about FTP directories
cleaning deadwood off FTP server, notifying of clearance, changing passwords and readying new directories as requested.
first line of FTP troubleshooting
tracking textual, web, and media errata
coordinating response to errata
advising on policy for addressing gravest errata, when needed
gave regular feedback to all departments on customer requests and trends
researched ill-documented company processes and often reinvented missing wheels
made up for severe dysfunctions in communication between departments, kept balls rolling

What I did that wasn't really taken advantage of:

Analyzing mistakes and developing ways to prevent them and to more efficiently address the ones that do slip by
Keeping on top of customer trends and communicating that information to other departments in ways that would have helped us adjust to market challenges as well as retain and build on customer loyalty
Analyzed places where my department was inefficient in ways that had no corresponding goodwill payoff and suggested ways to eliminate those inefficiencies and save money

What I am skilled at:

research (mostly in the humanities but I've done technical research on computer subjects)
interfacing between tech and non-tech people
explaining tech concepts to non-tech people
documenting processes
identifying inefficiencies and making suggestions for improvements (will implement improvements if allowed to do so)
great at following-through
tracking/traffic control
communication
troubleshooting (both computer and other)
proofreading

Fields of study/workplaces I like:

Art
Libraries
Museums
Historical Societies
Certain legal environments
Tech places that aren't total mills (I really enjoyed my Apple software QA stints)
Music
Horticulture
Sustainable Living
Languages
Universities

What I don't like about my current job and would like to get away from:

phone switchboard
lack of respect built-in to the department/title
usually have to escalate the most interesting stuff to someone else because they are given more time to solve it
not having the tools I need to do my job
low pay

I know this is sounding vague as all shit. What I know is that if I can't do what I really want to do for a living (full-time vocalist, artist, whatever...), I at least want to be paid well for deferring my dreams and would like a job that's more fulfilling than most of what I've done so far.

What fulfills me:

Helping solve challenging problems
Being respected by my company and co-workers for a job well done
Learning interesting new things (not just proprietary stuff you can't transfer to other work and which has no application to your life)
Being able to use my intellect and especially my creativity
Being in a job that pays me enough to thrive and not just enough to barely survive
Being treated like an adult (not being micromanaged)
Having someone value my advice when advising in areas of my expertise

Jobs I'd like to do but probably don't have all the qualifications yet (either on paper or sometimes I just need a quick course):

junior sysadmin, trainer, project manager, software QA, museum assistant, historical research assistant