Curriculum Vitae

Profile

I am an intelligent, adaptable, articulate person who can be relied upon to take up a task and do it quickly and effectively. I have a high level of computer skills in many areas of expertise and as a keen autodidact I regularly learn new skills as and when they are needed. Throughout my career, I have prided myself in spotting situations where I could save my colleagues' efforts and improve customer service by automating routine tasks. I am able to communicate effectively at whatever level is appropriate, whether to skilled engineers or completely non-technical people. I have a working knowledge of Dutch and French, as well as a more limited knowledge of several other languages.

In December 2005, I took the opportunity of a voluntary redundancy package to leave BT after 31 years and have a career break. As well as taking advantage of the extra leisure time available to enjoy myself, I also spent a lot of time updating and improving my IT skills, creating some large and complex websites which provided me with an opportunity to explore new techniques and have proven themselves useful and popular.

Key skills

• Web page design: using CSS techniques, Javascript, AJAX and CGI scripts. Ensuring cross-browser compatibility and accessibility to disabled visitors. (For an example, please see The Suffolk Real Ale Guide)
• Programming: primarily using Perl, but experienced with C and shell-scripting.
• Database design and use: SQL in general, mainly using MySQL but experienced with other database systems such as Oracle.
• Unix system administration: primarily with Linux, but also experience with other variants such as Solaris, AIX and HP-UX.

I also have a working knowledge of TCP/IP networking, SNMP, SSH, MRTG and many other aspects of IT.

Key achievements

• Conceived, prototyped and led the initial development of CORES, which is a web-based system used by BT to remotely manage several thousand Unix servers.
• Developed a suite of software to monitor and where possible automatically fix problems with the system CORES was due to replace. As this system was very unreliable, the automation freed-up a lot of the team's time so we could work on its replacement.
• Created an integrated monitoring system for complex web platforms which made vital performance and problem data quickly available to administrators and managers. This integrated such tools as MRTG, Nagios and much custom software to provide a complete solution from simple configuration to automatically alerting engineers to problems.

Work history

• April 2005 to December 2005, Software developer/consultant: providing new software and/or updating existing code for various projects as required.
• September 2004 to April 2005, Systems integrator: integrating new releases and patches into the test platform for the broadband ordering system.
• April 2001 to September 2004: Software engineer: Analysis, design, development, implementation and maintenance of a web-based platform monitoring system which was used on several distinct systems.
• March 1997 to April 2001, Framework systems implementation & support engineer: responsible for implementation and day-to-day support of the system which was used to remotely manage several thousand servers throughout the country. This included providing out-of-hours rota cover and developing an in-house system to replace the proprietary one originally in use.
• December 1993 to March 1997, Computer operator: working shifts in a multi-vendor, multi-operating system installation. Scheduling work, performing first-line fault analysis and if necessary escalating faults to the appropriate teams.
• August 1993 to December 1993, Operations support/hardware installation: Overseeing the installation of hardware in the computer centre and helping with the planning of the installation as well as producing documentation.
• August 1988 to August 1993, Computer operator: operating and overseeing IBM and Hitachi mainframes. Scheduling work, performing first-line fault analysis and if necessary escalating faults to the appropriate teams.
• July 1986 to August 1988, Billing systems application support: support of billing suite - fault diagnosis/correction of batch jobs, plus optimising real-time systems.
• July 1984 to July 1986, Network provision and helpdesk operator: Installation and maintenance of a network covering the north west of England. Plus manning the helpdesk and dealing with problems reported by customers, fixing them myself if possible or if necessary passing them on to other teams.
• August 1974 to July 1984, Telephone engineer: after a three year apprenticeship, variously installing equipment in customers' premises or telephone exchanges.

Education

• 1969-1974, King George 5th Grammar School, Southport. O Levels in English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry & Biology.
• 1974-1976, Wigan Mining & Technical College: ONC in Mathematics, Telecommunications and Physics. City & Guilds Telephony & Telegraphy "A"
• 1980-1982, Southport Technical College: RSA Level 1 certificate "Computers in Data Processing" (passed with credit), City & Guilds Basic Certificate in Computer Programming (passed with double credit)
• 1983-1984, Southport Technical College: Physics A level.
• 1997-2002, Suffolk College: NOCN Dutch (from entry-level to intermediate level 2, each level passed with multiple credits), NOCN Foundation 1 German (unassessed).

Hobbies & interests