Technical Skills and Proficiencies
A CV is a strange thing. It presents a list of what one has done, and what one knows, as though that was the end of the story; as though one is never going to do, or learn, anything new from now on. Yet I wasn't born knowing any of this stuff; I learned it along the way. Indeed, part of the delight of a career in technology is that it changes so fast; one must constantly learn new things to keep up to speed. I have no desire to limit myself to doing only what I have already done; I look forward to the new challenges that another company and a different environment will provide.
Still, I recognise that it can be helpful to know what a candidate already knows, to get an idea of potential learning curve. Trying to list technical skills on a CV is very difficult because of the extreme space limitations. Here I can be a bit more thorough.
This list may seem surprisingly long. This is what comes of spending years as a generalist in an IT department of two: when something needs to be done, one of you has to do it. I've been fortunate to be able to get involved with a lot of projects covering a wide span of topics. But I do have areas of particular concentration; I've indicated those in bold.
Networking
LAN/WAN design, capacity planning, implementation and management involving:
- Novell NetWare 5.x, 4.x and 3.x
- NDS and eDirectory
- CNE (Certified Novell Engineer) since 1995; I have completed the 5.x Continuing Certification Requirement
- Windows NT 4.0 Server
- Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Active Directory
- MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) in Windows NT 4.0 since 1999
- Mixed NetWare and NT networks, including the use of File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW) and Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW)
- Support for mixed PC and Mac networks, using both NetWare and NT Services for Macintosh
- TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, NetBEUI
- DHCP, WINS, some DNS, LDAP
- SLP, NDPS (Novell Distributed Print Services)
- Ethernet, fibre
- Basic familiarity with hubs, switches and routers
Workstation and Desktop Administration
Centralised and systematic management of workstation and application setup and configuration, including:
- Centralised application configuration and distribution using Veritas WinInstall (formerly Seagate)
- Basic familiarity with ZENWorks, including NAL (Novell Application Launcher)
- Basic familiarity with Windows Installer (MSI), including using transforms
- Rapid mass production of workstations using Symantec Ghost
- Workstation production using unattended setup instead of imaging
- Concurrent license metering using Veritas WinSmart (formerly Frye Utilities); also Softrack somewhere back in the depths of time
- Automatic workstation inventory using Veritas WinLand (formerly Frye Utilities)
Email
Enterprise and Internet email system design, implementation and management involving:
- Novell GroupWise 5.x and 4.x, including infrastructure components such as Message Transfer and Post Office Agents; Async and API Gateways; SMTP Gateway and GroupWise Internet Agent (GWIA)
- GroupWise WebAccess
- GroupWise Remote
- SMTP basics (I can connect an enterprise email system to the Internet)
- POP3, IMAP basics (I can support clients who use these protocols)
- Basic familiarity with Exchange 5.5, Exchange Server 2000
Programming and Data Manipulation
- Microsoft Visual Basic (VB) 5.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
- Access Basic
- Some C, Pascal, interpretive BASIC
- Proficient with Microsoft Access as a data manipulation and programming tool
- Scripting with various tools, including ScriptIt, KiXtart
- Batch files (still the tool of choice for many things!)
Internet and Web
Internet presence planning, implementation and management, including:
- Web, FTP and NNTP site maintenance
- Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0
- Basic familiarity with Netscape Enterprise Server
- Brief acquaintance with Apache Web Server
- Microsoft FrontPage 2000
- HTML
- Basic PHP and MySQL knowledge
- Domain name registration and startup
Desktop Operating Systems
Troubleshooting and management of:
- Windows XP
- Windows 2000 Professional
- Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
- Windows 95 and 98
- Windows 3.x
- DOS
- Basic familiarity with the Macintosh
Hardware and Accessories
Installation, upgrade and troubleshooting of many devices on workstations and servers, including:
- Disk drives (SCSI, IDE, EIDE)
- Modems
- Network interface cards (NICs)
- PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- UPSes
- Printers (and HP JetDirects)
- Docking stations
- USB devices
- PDAs
Data Protection and Fault Tolerance
Data backup and protection strategies, including:
- Proactive disaster recovery planning
- RAID
- Antivirus measures (Intel LanDesk Virus Protect 3.x-5.x, Norton Antivirus 7.0)
- Data backup (Backup Exec 4.x-8.x on NetWare, and 7.x on NT); DAT and DLT drives, autoloaders
Remote Access
- RAS (Remote Access Service)
- pcAnywhere 5.x-8.x
- Basic familiarity with VPN (Virtual Private Networking)
Applications
Although in these days of upgrades every six months, it's far more important to be comfortable with using an app I've never seen before (especially when users call for technical support on such an app). Therefore the first item on this list really should be...
- Comfortable using on-line help to learn to use new applications
- Microsoft Office suites (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook)
- Corel/Novell/WordPerfect PerfectOffice suite 5.x-8.x (WordPerfect, QuattroPro, Presentations)
- Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer
- ACT! 2.x-4.x
- Many others
