Hi Universe. It's me, Mark.
I need a job.
Seriously.
But I guess I that's not going to happen if I don't spell out exactly what I want now, will it?
While I had complaints about my last job in Phoenix before we moved to Denver, the mere fact that I stayed there nearly eight years (and would probably still be there in some form if we hadn't relocated) says a lot about what works for me. Unfortunately, my work situation in Denver was—how shall I say this? Unacceptable. So let's not do anything remotely like that again, m'kay?
I'm looking for a smallish-firm, maybe 250-500 employees or so—or a larger firm where my assigned responsibility would be for about that same number. I like smaller firms, but not so small that I'm the only I.T. guy. I don't mind being the only desktop guy, but I don't want to handle servers, connectivity beyond basic troubleshooting, dealing with telecommunications vendors, purchasing, receiving, or anything that is—as my former boss used to call it—"behind the wall."
My first job in Denver was pretty much like this, but upper management maintained a continual adversarial stance toward I.T. in general, which meant that during the two years I was there we went through three I.T. directors with an average gap of six months between each one, during which time I was expected to handle everything, and was given copious amounts of attitude when I failed to meet their unrealistic expectations, so I know that's not an environment for me.
As I said, while I had complaints about that last Phoenix job, the basic mechanics of it were nearly ideal. We were a large firm, but since each desktop guy had their own facility to support with anywhere from 250-400 users, it seemed much smaller. The workload wasn't horrific, but it was enough to keep boredom at bay and allowed for occasional down time. The entire I.T. department was very close-knit, and while I rarely socialized with any of my colleagues after hours, I still came to view them as friends and not just co-workers.
I don't mind driving between multiple facilities to help out my colleagues, but I want a home base; I don't want a "field tech" position.
Pay? $50K a year would be nice. I'm worth more than that, but I'm trying to be realistic considering the current pay scale here.
I'd also like receive a modicum of respect from whatever company I work for and not be treated like an I.T. Janitor (or required to wear a requisite uniform) as I was at DISH. And while I enjoy a fun work environment as much as anyone, there's a fine line between fun and frat house.
As far as the industry? I still miss Healthcare, but getting back into it isn't an absolute. I'd also love to be able to build on my Mac experience in an enterprise environment.
I don't think I'm asking that much, but if I know if I don't put it out there and focus, it's gonna be kind of hard for it to come my way.
Failing this, a winning lottery ticket with a $1-5 million payout would be nice. Just sayin'.