to call up a demon you must learn its name
September 7, 2024 11:26 AM Subscribe
Help me resume-write this IT project activity: multi-site, critical, timely, coordinated service migration stuff. Details inside.
Recently I worked on a fun (for me), exciting (to me) IT migration project and I'd like to figure out how to encode that into hiring-speak in order to both integrate it into my resume and know what sort of verbiage to look for in job listings.
The project was cutting over a regional financial institution from one ISP/MSP to another. They have about 100 sites over 3 states (think bank branches). The old connectivity paradigm was each site with whatever ISP was convenient to the particular site, varying from old telco MPLS circuits to DOCSIS and some fiber where available. Under the new regime they have hooked up with a national level ISP+MSP that subcontracted fiber runs into every single site in order to decommission the old hodge-podge. The new MSP runs different network equipment than the old MSP, so all that had to be changed out.
My role in all this was to be the on-site migration technician for every individual site cutover on the day. I had an itenerary and would travel from site to site. Once there I would call in to a conference call (a Teams meeting) using a bluetooth headset. On the call were staff from the financial institution's IT department and staff from the new MSP, plus project managers etc. Usually about 4-7 people including myself.
I would coordinate with the site staff, informing them about what was going to happen and how long it would take. Each site was shut down during the cutover, exterior doors locked etc. Once everyone was ready on the call and on-site, they would take down the old circuits and I would start physically removing the old switches and routers from the network racks, and then physically install the new equipment, constantly keeping the folks on the call abreast as to what I was doing. After the swapping of network equipment, I would be the on-site smart-hands to resolve any weird issues that came up, like the local employees saying they couldn't print, or the remote techs saying device X isn't populating, etc.
An example of the conversational workflow:
I really enjoyed the dynamism of that project. I kinda felt like I was Molly Millions in Neuromancer. I'd like to know how to describe all this sort of activity in resume/CV language so I can try to look for work that's closer to this and not the dull, grinding glorified construction work that my normal day-to-day job is. I just don't know the best ways to succinctly describe this stuff.
Physical migrations, multi-site critical communication infrastructure coordinating, liaising, etc.
How should I write this project up for a resume, and what sort of keywords and job descriptions should I be looking for in job search engines?
Recently I worked on a fun (for me), exciting (to me) IT migration project and I'd like to figure out how to encode that into hiring-speak in order to both integrate it into my resume and know what sort of verbiage to look for in job listings.
The project was cutting over a regional financial institution from one ISP/MSP to another. They have about 100 sites over 3 states (think bank branches). The old connectivity paradigm was each site with whatever ISP was convenient to the particular site, varying from old telco MPLS circuits to DOCSIS and some fiber where available. Under the new regime they have hooked up with a national level ISP+MSP that subcontracted fiber runs into every single site in order to decommission the old hodge-podge. The new MSP runs different network equipment than the old MSP, so all that had to be changed out.
My role in all this was to be the on-site migration technician for every individual site cutover on the day. I had an itenerary and would travel from site to site. Once there I would call in to a conference call (a Teams meeting) using a bluetooth headset. On the call were staff from the financial institution's IT department and staff from the new MSP, plus project managers etc. Usually about 4-7 people including myself.
I would coordinate with the site staff, informing them about what was going to happen and how long it would take. Each site was shut down during the cutover, exterior doors locked etc. Once everyone was ready on the call and on-site, they would take down the old circuits and I would start physically removing the old switches and routers from the network racks, and then physically install the new equipment, constantly keeping the folks on the call abreast as to what I was doing. After the swapping of network equipment, I would be the on-site smart-hands to resolve any weird issues that came up, like the local employees saying they couldn't print, or the remote techs saying device X isn't populating, etc.
An example of the conversational workflow:
Me: "Ok, the router is mounted and powered. Patching it in now, so you should be able to see it in a couple minutes."After everything was cut over and verified to be working, the site could re-open. On the call we'd set our meeting time mainly based on how long it would take me to travel to the next site, then hang up. I'd pack up, get in the workvan, and head to the next one.
NOC: "Yes, I can see it and I can ping the gateway. Looks good."
Me: "The 48 port switch is in and online. I'm patching in devices now."
IT Project Director: "Yep, I am seeing the phones starting to come up. Alice, start making the host changes. Bill, start reprovisioning the phones."
Alice: "Ok, all the computers are done except for one I have on my list, Reception02. Been offline for 4 days. glonus, can you go see if you can find that and see what's up?"
Me: "Yep, looking around now. Ah, I found it, it was shut down. Coming up now."
I really enjoyed the dynamism of that project. I kinda felt like I was Molly Millions in Neuromancer. I'd like to know how to describe all this sort of activity in resume/CV language so I can try to look for work that's closer to this and not the dull, grinding glorified construction work that my normal day-to-day job is. I just don't know the best ways to succinctly describe this stuff.
Physical migrations, multi-site critical communication infrastructure coordinating, liaising, etc.
How should I write this project up for a resume, and what sort of keywords and job descriptions should I be looking for in job search engines?
Response by poster: thanks for the help, chiefthe. i really appreciate it!
posted by glonous keming at 7:00 PM on September 7, 2024
posted by glonous keming at 7:00 PM on September 7, 2024
Best answer: If there was any aspect of the migration you managed - even a small part of it - you could add something about project management.
Managed critical day-of work stream, including project management of the timeline, installation and testing to ensure successful migration.
if you were the person tracking the schedule on migration days and making the connections between teams responsible for various actions, then you were the day-of project manager. That's a big deal and is a separate and distinct skill - valuable! - to find in a Technician. Not dinging technicians. They keep the world running. But I recommend highlighting projects where you had to exercise independent judgment. That's a differentiator.
posted by MissPitts at 4:55 PM on September 8, 2024
Managed critical day-of work stream, including project management of the timeline, installation and testing to ensure successful migration.
if you were the person tracking the schedule on migration days and making the connections between teams responsible for various actions, then you were the day-of project manager. That's a big deal and is a separate and distinct skill - valuable! - to find in a Technician. Not dinging technicians. They keep the world running. But I recommend highlighting projects where you had to exercise independent judgment. That's a differentiator.
posted by MissPitts at 4:55 PM on September 8, 2024
I’m job hunting and polishing my resumes lately, and I got some good ideas from ChatGPT. Obviously don’t use it as anything but a draft or idea-generation tool, but you can just paste in stuff from a resume and ask it to shorten it, etc. I have the subscription and it definitely was useful in certain cases.
posted by caviar2d2 at 9:43 AM on September 9, 2024
posted by caviar2d2 at 9:43 AM on September 9, 2024
« Older Alternate music video for Piano Man | Eyeglass lenses in Boston. Difficulty: computer... Newer »
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
On-Site Migration Technician
- Facilitated 100+ site ISP migration with in-person coordination, installation, and troubleshooting using TOOLA, TOOLB & TOOLC.
- Installed new physical hardware and switches of XYZ model, coordinating with local teams and providing regular status on expected completion time.
- Troubleshot emergent technical issues following physical install with local and remote teams, including XYZ, ABC, & DEF.
- Completed full migration over XX days with minimal supervision and self coordination with subsequent sites.
I feel like there should be more numbers in here, like number of sites per day, or time to complete the switch over. I'd be sure to include the types of tech issues you resolved (a couple tough ones and a mundane one), and call out any particular tools or strategies used to support the work.
Caveat: I am not an IT person, but have read and written a fair number of resumes.
posted by chiefthe at 12:50 PM on September 7, 2024