Resume

Work Experience

I have gained valuable experience at every position that I have worked in my IT career. As a Tier 2 Service Desk technician, I developed the hardware and software trouble shooting skills needed to accel in any role. I helped support a variety of devices and software which introduced me to a number to technologies.

As a System Administrator, I was also to use these troubleshooting skills while also adding new skills to my tool back. This is where I got much of my Active Directory experience. I was also responsible for managing file server permissions and implementing enhancements to increase performance and efficiency. In my current role as a System Admin, I have the opportunity to work with a bunch of different technologies. Right now, I am one of the leads on a project to migrate the company’s infrastructure to AWS cloud.

 I also am in charge of vulnerability management and running Tenable scans. There are always routine maintenance tasks that have to be done and metrics to be pulled which give us a ton of insight on changes that could me made to increase efficiency. It is always fun to test out new ideas. I plan to use my experience to continue to progress in my career.

Professional Goals Statement

Currently as a System Administrator, I am responsible for maintaining my organizations on-prem and cloud infrastructure which includes vulnerability management and proposing improvements to infrastructure. I plan to use the skills developed at my current position along with the knowledge I gained from majoring in Cybersecurity to progress in my career with an end goal of landing a cloud role, specifically cloud security. Over the next five years, I plan to continue to refine my skills and land a leadership role within IT. Over the next ten years, I plan to start my own security company that would be able to compete for DoD contracts.

Examples of Technology Related Skills

Cloud- cloud is not a physical entity, but instead is a network of servers designed to replace on-prem infrastructure

Linux- on open sourced operating system

Active Directory- Microsoft’s identity management solution

vulnerability management- keeping systems up to date to reduce the chance of successful attack

troubleshooting- the ability to get to the root cause of an issue and create a positive solution

Examples of Problem Solving

I am sure you will agree, the entire industry of IT is to find solutions to the problems that computers present us. To be able to solve these issues, one my master the art of troubleshooting. I personally was able to hone in on these skills while working for SAIC on the Norfolk Naval Base. We were given administrator access to be able to troubleshoot hardware, software, and network issues. This is where my comfortability of using ping, ticketing systems, and other IT tools came from. Working for the naval base also allowed me to work in my people skills. There were some very important people in the military calling in with issues and, as you can imagine, they want things fixed immediately so that they can get back to their important tasks.  I had to learn how to manage two E’s, egos and expectations, very quickly as I did my best to solve issues. Fortunately, I was able to use both my technical skills and my people skills learned in my first IT role to land my next role.

Blog Entries

A little advice…

Working in the tech industry can be very rewarding if you find a niche that fits you. I used my time in school to take a variety of classes on different topics in IT and cybersecurity to find what interests me. Doing so helped me figure out the career path that I needed to take to get to where I want to be. However, there are a few skills that will be needed no matter what area of IT you choose to pursue. The most important skill, in my opinion, is the ability to effectively troubleshoot and find solutions to issues that arise. Another useful skill to learn is networking. Since all IT systems use networks to communicate, it will be wise to fully understand networking as it will help in every area on the job.

A (no so) funny story…

My first week in the job started of great until I embarrassed myself in front of the entire team. The company wanted all the new hires to give a presentation about ourselves so that we could get to know each other a little better. When it was my turn to present, I bolted to the front, filled with excitement to talk about myself. It turns out I was a little too excited. I completely forgot about the cord protector that everyone else had stepped over so effortlessly. This time, the stop, drop, and roll I performed was not on purpose and this was not a drill. As you can imagine, me falling was funny to everyone except me, but I was able to laugh it off and give my presentation.