So, I made a post to the local craigslist.
It’s all anonymofied to try to get people who are serious but at the same time to prevent spam.
Please feel free to pass this link along:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/res/97583577.html
The fully formatted version of the resume is online at:
http://www.apolo.net/resume/afreeman2005v2.doc
(Hey ph0s this one is slightly newer and reformatted. )
Anyone who gets me a successful lead will get a signing bonus of $200 from me.
I got to chat this evening with an ex-manager. I say ex, because we got laid off together from the last company that laid me off. I really liked the guy, probably one of my favourite managers… If it weren’t for the fact that I should have known…. he was doomed!
I’d forgotten (while working for him) that I had a bizarre curse. No one who manages me directly ever lasts for more than a year. And this goes back to the very, VERY start.
Oh, at first, I didn’t notice the curse at all. The first job I held was at a *mumbles* pizza *mumbles*. I went through 3 different managers just in the 2 months I was there. Some got promoted to other stores, some left, one got pregnant and quit (I didn’t like that one), but the managers I had when I started, all were gone by my last day.
I worked for a radio station and the Asst Mgr. who hired me… got fired because the new Station manager hated him. The guy wound up trying to frame me for theft from the station and was later caught and fired.
I worked for the University of Pittsburgh… We had a saying in those days. If it’s more than 3 reorgs in 2 years… well, you get the idea. Yup, 3 different managers. It’s funny, when I started at Pitt there were 6 people between me and the Provost. When I quit, the Provost was my direct report. I moved to another department at Pitt. The hiring supervisor left 8 months later. His assistant who took over, left a month later.
Then there was the San Diego Startup. 3 managers gone. But to be fair… The company did eventually lay off 70% of the staff in one day. So, there was mismanagement from the start. 🙂
Which brings me to my ex-manager. A really, really great guy. The company really didn’t know what they were losing. See, I think I forgot about the curse, because I actually lasted 2.666 years there… All under the same manager. (Granted, I went thru 2 cubes and 3 offices)… but in fact, we got laid off on the same day. I was out of the office when it hit; so on a technicality, I outlasted him. (He signed severance papers a few hours before me.)
Oh… but what about my last job? Oddly enough, the way that things were structured, my hiring manager wasn’t really the person who supervised me. No, that was the team lead engineer. (Who left within 6 months of my hire.) The next ‘eldest’ team member took over… He left at the end of the next cycle. From my hire I was 5th in line, but the oldest team member (the one smart enough not to take lead status) also quit after the second supervisor jumped teams. So I went from #5 to the second seed. I reserve the term “Number 2” for the guy hired just before me… But for reasons that make more sense if you understand the slang involved.
Now interestingly, none of these were ‘my fault.’ None of my managers or supervisors left because I was: a difficult employee; hard to manage; or unwavering in my ideals. It was the company or managers’ own pursuits that took them away. I just seem to be the one who had the string of similar events.
So… how do I combat this curse. Well, there really is one and only one answer. The universe has made it very, VERY clear. I’m really not meant to be “Managed”…, So obviously, I have to be a CEO.
So… who wants to help fund my venture 🙂
After working in the corporate, startup, and educational enterprise space for about 15 years with about 10 years of freelance added in there, I’ve added up about 20 years of computer experience.
This experience includes, but isn’t limited to: Software Engineering, Project Design, Project Architecture, Team Management, Budgeting, Forecasting, Trends Analysis, and most importantly, Schmoozing. (The latter of which many of you were probably wondering how to spell)
Well, I’m finally going to come public. At least about why I’ve not been posting a lot and what I am up to. As a few friends are aware, I’ve embarked on a new project. At this time, I’m not going to make the details of this project public. Those friends I’ve given any details to directly about it, have actually been asked to sign an NDA.
Basically, I am coding again. And if you thought NewsAccess was a labour of love, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
EDIT: had posted an image instead of a link. That was annoying. Fixed that. Sorry.
I just got off the phone with my ISP. Last week someone got onto my network and ran a peer-to-peer downloading problem. I discovered the next day that my network had gone to hell. I disabled the ability for such programs to be run on my network. (Without certain firewall precautions).
Well, it turns out the networking issue was unrelated. I called tech support at the ISP. They checked the line and told me it was obviously my hardware. (As always while trying to evaluate my hardware the tech started with, “Go to your start menu” At the mention of the accursed word “Macintosh” he sighed and said, “Oh.” Then he advised I call my manufacturer.)
After several internal tests, it was obvious that it wasn’t the computer or the ethernet cards. I figured, maybe my 5 port switch had gone to hell. Several tests suggested that it too was fine. Then yesterday I tried to open a video chat to the ever lovely, fiannaharpar. Insufficient bandwidth. I scratched my head and checked.
I have a business DSL line. It is provisioned at 5MB/768KB, I am told to expect (due to location), 3MB/768KB. As of yesterday’s check I am running 1MB/20KB. That’s right. I am pushing out 2.6% of the data I’m paying to deliver. I called my sales representative. I explained that tech support doesn’t work on the weekends. (Far be it for an internet business to work on the weekend) and the quality of service I’m receiving. Agog, he promptly credited my account and asked me to keep him posted.
The downside of living in a remote town is that net services are still not an automatic thing. A small town may have _one_ ISP. No choice, no debate… that’s it. You get what they maaaay be able to deliver to you. The only way to assure service is to pay for the laying of a T1 line. This usually amounts to about $2000-$3000 for set up and about $500 per month. Unless that is a line item on your business expenses… it’s not worth the cost for a startup.
I discussed with the sales rep that the quality of service and lack of weekend support makes me question exactly what I’m really paying for since a residential service can get the same ‘provisioned speed’ and the same ability to request static IP. He agreed wholeheartedly and said, “he’d pass it along.” Those who’ve worked in any service related business know exactly what I mean.
I suppose the one good thing that came out of it was the fact that at the end of the conversation he said, “I can understand your frustration” (Standard sales kiss-a&$ speak) and then ended with, “I hope the rest of your day is a bit better.”
This last comment actually meant something positive to me. I have a huge gripe with service company representatives who have conversations like this:
Me: So, there’s not a thing you can do to help me. You can’t fix my problem and I’m pretty much screwed.
SCR: Yup. There’s not a damn thing we can or would do. Is there anything else I can do for you?
Me: Apparently not.
SCR: Okay, have a nice day, thanks for being a valued customer.
Now, before anyone goes off on semantics. No. This is not the wording I use on a phone call. I am always professional and polite to a point. When I have been given the run around I will climb through wires and eat people, but in general I am polite, even when I make making thinly veiled threats… That said…
If you as a representative have not made every effort to help me with my issue and this includes passing me up the line to your supervisor. You have NOT assisted me. Asking me if there’s anything else you can do, is not only inappropriate, it’s downright annoyingly hypocritical.
Hi, I have a problem
Yeah, but I’m not gonna help you with your problem, wanna find another one instead?
But the one that gets me livid. The one that makes my blood boil. Is when an unproductive conversation ends with Have a nice day
I know fully that customer service is the fine art of making the customer blindly happy with as much pablum as possible. That being said… if I have just spent a phone getting more and more agitated because you are not living up to business promises and making less and less attempt to provide service; a sudden smile and vacant wish of happy day really gives me the impression that not only didn’t you fix my problem, you absolutely don’t care about how I feel about the company anymore.
Sadly, for most of the customer service industry, we have hired in mindless automatons who follow scripts and data paths to solve basic problems and then have the words to perform stupidity when the problem takes effort.
Another side comment, I would not be surprised if there are readers in Customer service who take complete offense at what I say. Well, on one hand you should and on the other, don’t. The average person who has a life (someone who is not an NPC for a living) actually tries. The really awesome waitress, the CSR that actually tries, etc. But in all honesty, what happens is that the company burns them out or they become viciously frustrated because they are not receiving support or recognition for the job they are doing.
An example: One nameless company that I know of that is somewhere on the planet Earth, Linked into the internet used to have a huge CSR division. It worked this way, “You are to process as many calls as possible as fast as possible. Get them on, make them happy, get them off. Offer them freebies to make up for problems.” One friend of mine in the order worked for them and honestly wanted to help them with their issues. (Go figure). He was constantly chastised by his manager for low productivity. He didn’t take enough calls. He spent too much time on the phone. Who cared that he had 95% satisfaction as opposed to the 45% which was the median goal line for the department? Eventually, he left in a huff. When I first went to work for that company he warned me that if I actually cared about the work I did, I would probably wind up leaving in a huff. I explained that I don’t do CSR (anymore) and it wasn’t likely. On a side note, I don’t work for that company anymore and the entire CSR (over half of the company’s 5000 employees) were outsourced to India. Having assisted in the scriptwriting of training for Outsourced support, I know exactly what the solution path script looks like.
In general, I look at sales agents and CSR like I do at any other bait or trap you’d get at the local hardware store. They have a job. They do their job. Their job is to give you as little of their company as they can. Their job is to dazzle you and make you feel good about how little they are giving you. And if they can’t make you happy, their job is to shrug and go away. It sounds cold, but in all honesty, if you haven’t done your homework going in, you really get what you deserve.
It sounds really kinda dark, cynical and jaded. But in all honesty, it’s also uplifting in a way. The truth is, the term customer service means that the customer is serviced. Most companies, take the approach of a badly dressed pimp, abusing their chattel of most of the money they earn. If you have to deal with a company, learn as much as you can. Be prepared. And most importantly, learn their game. Nothing throws a game player more than being good at their game or perhaps better. Be professional, know that you can always call for a supervisor, and that they are their to do work for you. They are charging you for a service and if they don’t deliver, they may be in breach of contract.
In my (not so humble) opinion. Once the customer learns his or her rights and learns how the system works, the power shift occurs. Then maybe we can live in a world where the standard elevates from caveat emptor to caveat venditor (Let the vendor beware)
93!
About a week ago I posted about a hearing. When I originally applied for unemployment benefits for leaving Earthlink I was denied benefits. The benefits decision is based primarily on information filed electronically by the employer (a series of checkmarks I am given impression) and an interview with the applicant (me).
I was dismayed when after scheduling 2 hours of my time to explain my case, the phone interview lasted approximately 4 minutes. I was asked about 5 pointed “Yes/No” questions and given no room to elaborate. One week later I received the mail that I was denied unemployment rights. I called up and the person I spoke with explained the appeal process.
I wrote up a two page document explaining why I felt that I had been worked to wits end; where the management structure had broken down; and most importantly the hostile situation composed of erratic and often insulting treatment from management.
This continued a few weeks later (last week) when I appeared (at least vocally) for a telephone appeal. I spoke with a judge in the L.A. Office of appeals. It was an actual court case with the whole rigamarole of approving evidence, taking an oath of truth (which happily required that I swear to tell the truth, no swear to a named deity), and answering questions about the case.
The judge was absolutely calm and asked appropriate questions. About 45 minutes later he notified me that I would receive his decision in writing in a week or so.
Today, in a bit of an off mood I fetched the mail. I have no idea why the mood is off, but there you have it. In the mail were the usual BoA statements, and some mail spam. Two items of interest: The County license for the cat. (Yay, she’s legal), and the court decision. I wasn’t optimistic. It’s ‘the system’ and all.
The decision was the most tricky documentation I’ve ever tried to read. The first page was an bi-lingual enclosure (Spanish side up) on appealing an unfavourable decision. The next page was basically blank except for the case number and my address.
Then some pages stapled together from the court. Page 1:
Decision
The decision in the above-captioned case appears on the following page(s)
Aww, come on! This isn’t a mystery novel, just hit me with the bad news.
Page 2:
Issue statement, Statement of facts, reason for decision (but no decision)
Page 3:
More reason for decision. Then… all the way at the bottom of the last page
Decision
(I so expected, final decision on next mailing)
The department determination is reversed. The claimant is not disqualified for benefits under code section 1256. Benefits are payable, provided the claimant is otherwise eligible.
For the most part, this should mean that in a bureaucratic amount of time I should receive all back benefits. I say for the most part because all this really says is that, “No, he didn’t violate rule 1256. If you want to prevent having to pay benefits, you’ll have to find another rule and claim he violated it.”
1256 is the easy one. Other ones are incredible minutia. So… more as this progresses. I guess, I’m getting unemployment. Yay :-/
