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I have learned a lot going through the process of creating this Blog and from this class in general. I haven’t changed what I want to do however I have concluded that I need to create a portfolio as a communication vehicle both for my past accomplishments that show my creativity, drive, technical and business skills but most importantly the ideas I would like to implement.

Communication is the primary reason I am in the Web and Video program as that is one of my weaknesses. When I explain what I have done in the past and my ideas going forward I haven’t done a very good job in the past. I know that from the eye rolling, sighs and looks I get when I am first explaining to people I have just met. If I keep communicating then at some some point I usually get something like: “Oh now I understand what you are saying. You explained it simply but I just couldn’t get it. Now I do”. This usually happens after ½ hour or longer.

What this process has made me realize is I need to create something that communicates instantly by creating multi media that explains my ideas and past accomplishments. I want to use what I am learning in the Web and Video Production program through illustrations, videos, web pages and animations to achieve an instant and powerful message.

This class and this project in particular has made me take the time to focus my thinking around marketing myself and I think it has been productive, insightful and has given me even more enthusiasm going forward.

The image I posted with this post is of my 1 year and 6 year old granddaughters. It's true what I’ve heard: “Skip the children, get grandkids”.

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I interviewed Kate Conant who presented at our last class from the Employment Resource Center.

After I covered my background and what I was looking for as the ideal job she gave me some excellent input.

The major point that Kate made is that I need to start networking in the areas in which I want to end up finding a job. She gave me several contacts to make in the head hunter and employment services community to begin making myself known to those organizations as the jobs I am looking for are certainly out there they do not come available very often and the majority of them are never posted anywhere. if you're known at the time they become available then you have a chance of getting them but if the approach is to search listing of jobs it’s very unlikely to land one given the nature of the jobs.

Kate also suggested that I pay placement specialists that only deal with C level positions and gave me several references for people like that.

I realize that I need to create a portfolio of not just the ideas I have but also a portfolio of the projects over the years that illustrate my strengths. If I can create this portfolio using much if not all of what I have learned here then it should be a powerful and quick way for potential employers to evaluate me rendering very quick decisions if they are interested in pursuing me. I would like those portfolio items to not only tell a story but prove by the way I developed them that I also have very strong skills in the Web and Video arena.

I’m including an image of an IBM 407 accounting machine I programmed in 1966. It wasn’t quite a full blown computer. It had a card reader and a printer built in and it was programmed using wire on punchboard similar to an old fashioned telephone operator panel for connecting long distance calls.

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IBM 360/20

Favorite Jobs:

Title	Salary	Short Term Prospects	Long Term Prospects
Art Director	$ 91,323	growth	growth
CEO	194,687	growth	growth
Computer Science Instructor	62,950	stable	growth
VP, Professional Services	194,687	growth	growth
Think Tank	?	?	?

I’m very open as to the location of the job. So long as it is a desirable location to my family in terms of quality of life then I’m willing to relocate anywhere for the right job. I’ve always been this way and it has served me well.

The jobs above all take advantage of my software engineering background as well as what I am learning in the Web and Video Production classes I am taking. For example the VP, Professional Services would ideally be managing the delivery of solutions to businesses that have a serious software engineering component as well as having a heavy web and / or video component.

I’ve included an image of the first mainframe computer I programmed an IBM 360/20. When I first started programming this machine the one I used didn't have any hard drives, it only had tape and punched cards as data media. When we finally got hard drives for it and they ran a statistical program I wrote to do item analysis for analyzing test results, the hard drives shimmied across the floor the read and write heads were moving so fast.

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I have several jobs that would be ideal for me when I graduate. All of them make use of my skills in software engineering and the additional skills in Web and Video Production that I am learning here.

First, I would like to land another job as an executive with P&L responsibility over a division or company. This is very similar to my last job and would have a heavy software development as part of it. Examples would be running a media development organization for a gaming company or a publisher or a web or development organization.

Second, I would like to join a think tank for a company like Microsoft, Google, 3M, Boeing or Procter & Gamble. This job would make use of everything I’ve ever done and draw from multiple disciplines including Physics, Marketing, Sales and Design. I have a proven record of being extremely creative and have conceived and managed the development of systems for companies that solved mission critical problems.

Third, I would like a full time job teaching at the College level. I have a teaching credential from UC Berkeley that I earned while teaching at night at Monterey Peninsula Junior college in Monterey, Ca while running a computer consulting firm I owned. Teaching was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done and I would love to teach advanced media software development. The greatest reward for me was the students and helping them with their careers.

I like working with other people and not remotely. I've had the opportunity to work out of my house and I hate it. Much of work for me is the interpersonal relationships formed while working and that’s one of the major benefits to me of working.

Salary doesn’t matter to me as long as I can make a living wage and the salary is comparable to others performing the same job.

I’ve attached a image of the first computer I programmed in 1966. An IBM 1620 that required toggling on the front panel, in binary code, the boot tracks that then read the punched cards containing the program. We had to run each program at least three times until we got the same results twice and that was the result that was accepted. If the machine got too hot we wouldn’t get the same answer and had to shut down the machine for a couple of hours until it was cool enough.

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Me and my beautiful 6 year old grand daughter

My work personality per the OCEAN personality test is I enjoy novel experiences and seeing things in new ways  (84th percentile), I am very well organized and can be relied upon (94th percentile), I am relatively social and enjoy the company of others (74th percentile), I consider the feeling of others 74th percentile, and I am generally relaxed 27th percentile.

While these conclusions are over simplified I agree with them in general. I'm certainly open to new experiences while being able to hold my focus on the most important things I need to take care of.

I am still working on my social skills. With people I know I can be extremely social however with new relationships can be somewhat shy and reserved until I have assessed the individual(s).

I am always courteous and supportive with co-workers.  I am not always courteous with people I consider incompetent, deceitful or lazy.  I need to continue to work on this as it does not always serve me well when I have negative attitudes with people.

In crisis situations I am usually the one with the razor focus and the ability to make the best of a bad situation generally with acceptable results. Many times I am the only one that comes up with solutions addressing the crisis at hand.

My greatest strength is being able to get things done within the constraints presented. I have excellent skills for evaluating a situation, proposing a solution, managing the development and delivery of the solution to meet the customers needs within budget and on time with high customer satisfaction. Seriously, I really know how to do that and have a track record that proves it.