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Professional Timeline
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1997: Computer Technician - Always Learning Adult Education
Pay: $28,000/Year
My first professional IT job was working as a computer technician for the Elk
Grove Unified School District’s adult education division. Reflecting on that job
I find that the most rewarding point was that the adult education division was
adjacent to a vocational computer training academy called BTTI. I became
friendly with several of the staff at that academy, and they taught me several
things… like how to make my first CAT 5 cable. All in all it was a good
experience.
1999: Site Computer Technician – Elk Grove Unified School District
Pay: $34,000/Year
I was offered a position as the computer support technician for an entire high
school campus. I accepted the position, and I owe many people great thanks for
giving me that opportunity. Durring this position I managed a large 250+
client/server environment and obtained my first Microsoft and Comptia
certifications.
2000: Programmer III, Systems Administrator – University of California,
Davis
Pay: $40,000/Year
Within a year of working for the Elk Grove Unified School district I was
actively recruited for a position providing information technology
administration for the University of California, Davis – Information Resources
Division. The division was called “Desktop – Enterprise Solutions” and served as
a team of IT professionals that worked as consultants to individual UC
departments. The manager of that division got my name after viewing a network
project I had done for the Elk Grove Unified School District. The network
project was something I did because I felt that it needed to be done, for EGUSD.
The project reviewed the networking architecture and hardware of the high school
campus, identified IDF and MDF locations that were too heavily burdened by
traffic. Identified broadcast domains that needed to be segmented, and isolated
wasteful resource usage. What was mostly impressive is that the data that was
gathered was put in to a graphical format using visio diagrams and web-page
layouts within the EGUSD intranet. Presenting what I did to the core EGUSD IT
staff caused some heads to spin when they realized that a I had created it, and
was capable of the network and business analysis needed to put it together.
Needless to say I was happy to accept the $40,000/year position from the
University. I was also very excited that even though I would not have been able
to afford the University as a student out of high school I had worked hard
enough to at least quasi-attend UCD. I did Stay with the University for more
than four years.
2000: Programmer IV, Unix and NT Systems Administrator – University
of California, Davis
Pay: $54,000/Year
Within one year of being hired I had assumed responsibility of all NT and Unix systems
Administration within the Desktop-Enterprise Solutions division. I was now providing
consulting and administrative services to dozens of departments. I had taken advantage
of several educational resources in Perl programming, Solaris, Citrix, and Oracle.
Seeing the accomplishments I was making, along with adding Microsoft MCSE certification
to my title, the university said that “…it is obvious that you posses technical
skill sets and personal aptitude that are beyond your current position…” The University
offered me $14K more per year and a higher position. I gladly accepted.
2001: Programmer V, Senior Unix and NT Systems Engineer – Communications
Resources UCD
Pay: $67,800/Year
The next year I accepted a position with one of the core IT divisions within the
University. I was now directly responsible for the implementation and support of
Tier 1 Oracle databases, a 110+ client network, and 23 servers varying in complexity
from 8 processor Sun Solaris servers to dual processor Dell Windows boxes. I was
also directly involved with several applications development teams and the core
tele-communications infrastructure for the university and their associated Meridian switches.
2002: Same as above:
Pay: $72,000 – Increased Slightly
By this time I was working with some of the most intelligent minds within the university,
from programmers and database administrators in the campus Data Center to the craziest
of Star Wars loving network gods within the Network Operations Center. I served
on several core committees to help design a campus Firewall Solution, migration
strategies for software licensing, MIT Kerberos and Active Directory integration,
Course-ware management systems, and many other items.
2003: Same as above:
Pay: $83,000/year – Increased Slightly
At this point I was getting fairly annoyed with the Programmer V position I had
at UCD. I was settled in a routine, I had learned all that I thought I could learn
there, and was at the top of my pay range. I didn’t see any further growth. So,
how do you keep an intellectual mind busy? You venture out. I had started doing
outside consulting work in 2002, but nothing serious. In 2003 I started testing
the waters more seriously. I found that I could not just make more money, but be
exposed to more environments, more business models, and differing technologies that
the university environment was slow to adopt. As I write this section (October 2007)
there are several people I know from IT positions within UCD that stayed with the
organization since 2003, and have never yet administered a Windows 2003 Server.
Scary.
2004: Resigned from Programmer V position at UC Davis
Pay: $0
There are many people that have told me that my resignation from the University
in 2004 was a mistake. That I had a great job, was young, and should have stayed.
However many factors came in to play to make that decision. One of the largest factors
was that I was no longer learning anything. I was inhibited from implementing newer
technologies and processes based on UC politics, and without having a Masters in
Business Administration I would be stuck in the same job for the next decade without
the chance of a REAL chance of advancement in management. Besides the sky was the
limit. I had drive, knowledge, and an already existing base of consulting clientele
that could support me. So… I made a leap. I was also offered a position as CIO of
Strong Office US, Inc. a Norway based CRM software company that was trying to expand
within the United States. I took the position, but almost as soon as I did the Norwegian
parent company collapsed. So… I don’t talk much about that non-job here.
2004->Current: Principal, Timineri Consulting Group
In 2004 I officially opened the tax entities that are Timineri Consulting Group.
Let me say this…. Starting a company should always be done on other people’s money.
Not your own… hmmm… I know that now. By the middle of 2005 all of my personal savings
and credit was used up in creating startup capital. I was looking for a challenge,
wasn’t I? Well… I certainly got one. For the next year I struggled to learn everything
possible about business management, entrepreneurship, accounting, permits, insurances,
and all kinds of other FUN things. The next few years brought many challenges and
many hardships, but also many successes and growths.
October 2007:
Business is going strong. I’m looking for ways to take TCG beyond its
current plateau of revenue, and focus the service offerings a little more.
Unfortunately on this site I can’t say any more. The number of advanced
technology projects and the many dozens of companies I’ve done work with in the
last several years is expansive. This page is just a timeline, not a resume.
January 2008:
I converted Timineri Consulting Group into TCG, LLC with a business partner.
The business relationship was meant to build both of our businesses. TCG would
receive shared accounting staff, shared office resources, shared overhead
expenses, shared marketing and advertising, as well as other benefits. In
exchange the TCG would provide discounted IT services to the business partner’s
several other companies.
August 2008:
Well, the business partnership has blown up. The business partner used me and
taken me down a very bad path. TCG, LLC has lost several thousands of dollars in
revenue due to the relationship. I’ve personally given 110% toward the
relationship and the business partner violated EVERY SINGLE aspect of the
original agreement. The business partner has not paid TCG any invoices for
services TCG has performed for any of his other companies. There have been
questionable accounting practices and it has become apparent that this business
partner took me for granted and has no intentions on any of the business
building aspects of or original agreement. I’ve removed the 30% ownership that
the business partner had in TCG, LLC. Moved out of the shared offices, and am
starting from scratch. :-( Things are bad… very bad.
May 2009:
Business has been difficult over the last year, and the economy has really hit
us hard. However, I'm sustaining myself and some additional sub-contract labor
left over from previously laid-off staff. I'm, personally, looking for other
opportunities at this time.
May 2010: Manager of Implementation, Logistics, and Support
TCG, LLC is now being run as a side project. I’ve been able to find enough work
for one subcontractor and to keep me busy on weekends and holidays. Works out
well since I don’t really have a life beyond work, haha. I took a position with
a new company as the IT Manager. It’s been almost a year and has worked out
fairly well. However, I’m still looking for other opportunities.
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