Category: Jobs and Employment
I am looking for work in Pennsylvania mainly doing helpdesk work. My resume is below minus address because this is a public forum. I am located about 40 miles north of Harrisburg PA.
Joshua Kennedy
phone (717) 827-1029 joshknnd1982@gmail.com
Targeting Entry-Level Helpdesk Positions
LWSB graduate offering a strong academic background in IT combined with excellent customer service experience
Consistently recognized for technical troubleshooting skills used to rapidly resolve challenging technical issues
Quickly learns and masters new technology; equally successful in both team and self-directed settings; and proficient in a range of computer systems, tools and testing methodologies
Education
Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician- Certification 08/2011
LWSB – Little Rock, AR
Comp TIA Net+
• Validated knowledge of networking features and functions with the equivalent of nine months of hands-on experience
Comp TIA A+
• Proven competence in installation, preventative maintenance, networking, security and troubleshooting
Technology Summary
Certifications: Comp TIA A+, Comp TIA Net+
Systems: Windows 95/98/XP/VISTA/7/Apple OS 10.6/Ubuntu Linux/ Mac/Mobile Phone OS/ Windows Mobile/Symbian Phones/iPhone
Software: MS Office- Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint/ Goldwave/ Switch/ Sound Forge/ Adobe Acrobat/ Mozila Fire Fox/ Mozila Thunderbird/ Open Office Suite/ Apple Mail/ Iworks Suite/ Gparted/ Evolution Mail Client
IT Experience
Self Employed – Reading, PA
• PC Repair Technician, (1995- Current) Handled technical troubleshooting, including system crashes, slow-downs and data recoveries. Install and test PCs, fix performance issues, diagnose hardware-related problems, repair PCs in homes. Maintain and repair all peripherals, storage devices and various software’s plugged into or installed on desktops or laptops.
Colorado Center for the Blind – Littleton, CO
• Assistive Technology Instructor, (2009) Voluntarily Taught both blind and visually impaired students how to use JAWS and ZoomText. Provided technical and instructional support related to assistive hardware, software, peripherals, and other technologies necessary to compensate for the individuals disability and promote academic success. Installs, configures and maintains assistive hardware, software and peripherals in the Assistive Technology Center.
Available for Relocation & Travel
I am not available for relocation at this time due to family issues. I am currently teaching myself how to use window-eyes with office and can do remote training and support with the www.windoweyesforoffice.com offer. I am also familiar with the ubuntu operating system through use of the Orca screen reader. So with some training if the gui or terminal is accessible the app that is, I could manage a server.
I thought this was very interesting. However, since you aren't available for relocation I would remove that from your resume.
I think you'd be perfect for the freedom scinitific company here in Fl.
I'm originally from Pennsylvania so you are in a rural area right now. I would suggest that as soon as you can moving closer to Harriss burg, phillidelphia or Pittsburgh. In the bigger cities I think you'd have a better chance of getting gainful employment.
Good luck I know how the job market can be!
I can move in 12 or so years once my son graduates from high school.
hate to burst bubbles here, but I noticed three things:
1) If you are not open for relocation and travel, don't state that you are. If you live in a rural area with little or no transportation, you are pigeon-holing yourself. Who says you are not able to relocate? Kids are resilient and CAN move with confidence if they see their father is able to be a productive member of society rather than being stuck in one area and not able/willing to make the changes necessary to be as independent as possible.
2) What is LWSB? I may not be part of the local area, but it might be a good idea to spell out the school; someone else may not be familiar with it either. At least then they could do some research.
3) I am seeing many very overt references to blindness (the WindowEyes and accessibility of aps/gui in particular). This may be a sure-fire way to have the resume stopped in its tracks; if an employer knows off the bat that they might have to make extra accommodations for you, they are considerably less likely to do it. It is much easier to get into the interview and have them say no to your face rather than your resume - by the time they meet you, can see your confidence, skills, and ability to conduct yourself with professionalism and enthusiasm, they will have fewer reasons to turn you down.
Kate
Kate as one who had to stay put for five years, I have some challenge to your Point 1, though I agree with the rest of it.
You're not a parent yet, so I'll spell it out for you. In the U.S., not all school systems are created equal. In Canada you live under a lot more of a central government. But here in the U.S., we have some districts where the elementary education is outstanding but high school sucks and vice versa. It's so bad here that if you are a hiring manager and move to some states, what you think you're getting when looking at a high school graduate can be very different than what you are accustomed to. Been there and done that.
All that being said, parents make a lot of choices, and yes sacrifices, that don't look good to non parents, when it comes to their kids' education. Trust me on this one: I heard it all about lack of independence and everything else, except that where she went to high school this was the best location for her needs. Now she's out, I am too. But your perspective on that one is a bit skewed being from a nationalized form of government and nationalized education in Canada, versus state / city / county controlled education in the U.S., and also you not yet aware of the types of choices parents have to make for their kids' education.
As you know, choices imply responsibilities. Since I can choose to a limited degree where to put her for school, I'm responsible to her to make sure she's in the best possible location for her education. I'd go so far as to say I'm responsible to the society she'll be living and working in to do this.
Again, I agree with you on all other points but location I disagree. It's a catch-all phrase to say oh they'll adjust, just like people do with kids in divorced families and so on. Yes, people do adjust. Is it the best situation for his kid's education to do this? Relocate to Cleveland or Washington D.C. or someplace where he as the dad is not going to be able to get the kid the best education?
Also, if he is split up with his wife, there's an issue you are understandably if woefully ignorant of: father's rights. In the U.S., you leave the state, you virtually give up your rights as a father in many cases. Except the right to pay. I've seen a ton of heartbroken dads over the years deal with this. I've sat with them while they cried and talked about it, while I had the privilege of going home and tucking in my little one at night.
These issues are enormous and no blind advocacy self involved independent streak can fix any of it.
More than coming off harsh, I mean to come off realistic. Because the problem with these types of forums on the Internet, is problems get looked at from a one-dimensional perspective. In this case being blind and being unemployed. But the multidimensional multifaceted nature of this situation is readily apparent to me, as someone who is on the other side. Still parenting, still paying fo r stuff, but dealing with a young adult now who in theory, if not always in practice, is making it on her own and doing college now.
Leo, point well taken. I come at it from another point of view. My mother, growing up, lorded sacrifices over my head. She stayed in one place FOR ME, and don't I ever forget it. Perhaps the education system is very different from province/state to district, etc., but where I grew up, you went to school in the area you lived - we had very few cross-boundary kids. here, it seems to happen all the time, so the education point here is moot, but where I grew up, fair play.
Kate
What you experienced was unfair. I hope I did not do this to the daughter, though I know she knew it was hard where we lived. I tried hard to not let it impact her, but I'm pretty sure it did.
The trick is that we as parents are ultimately the ones who made the decision to sacrifice, the kids have little to do with it. This I have tried to explain to my own daughter. The only thing kids can do is make the most of it, which all parents try and get them to do anyway, since kids only do education and childhood stuff once.
I think on some level kids realize - or they should - that parenting is hard and involves sacrifices. Engendering gratitude is one thing, guilt is another.
Are we certain that it's the education that is keeping him there?
Back to the post regarding jobs/relocating, the point is still: do not ever ever EVER state an untruth in a resume. If you aren't willing to relocate, don't write down that you are.
Kate
Leo, all good points--but having read some of josh's other posts and having been on some of the same listserves as him, I have to say this probably doesn't have as much to do with matters of good versus bad education. I think it's more a custody issue--but not in the sense that if he left, he'd lose his rights as a dad since according to him , he has his son most of the time. Of course, I dont' knwo the details so I cant' and won't say anymore about the matter.
But here's another point I'll bring to the table. Most--even those who are parents in this exact situation--don't realize that it's probably better for a child in a split-up family to have both parents nearby. So often, more often than not, the noncustodial parent takes off for bigger and better things, for opportunities he or she is supposedly now free to take advantage of--again, under the guise that kids are resilient and will adjust to any situation thrown at them. Oh, how I hate the "kids can adjust" montra. I hate it with a passion. Because whether it's true or not, we dont' know. Each kid deals differently, and adults tell themselves this montra to make themselves feel better about putting their kids through transitions. Truth is, most of the kids of divorce--while they'll say they survived--they'll say it was rough on many levels. Some lack trust in others, confidence, etc. as adults. still, some don't knwo how to articulate the issues they're dealing with as kids because--well, not all kids knwo how to express themselves beyond what their parents expect. But it all comes out later--when a kid becomes an adult and the mommy and daddy issues are painfully obvious.
But I digress. My point is, maybe josh wants to stay in the area so that both of his kid's parents are in relatively the same place. Too many parents move away after the breakup of a family, and I think that makes it harder on the kids than the split-up itself.
All good points, Bernadetta. As a man, too, if he moves, he will risk the social stigma of being the abandoning father. And getting any sort of paternal custody will be damn near impossible. Again, I've sat with men over the years who deal with this stuff. I know it's kind of a taboo topic in polite society but fathers' rights is a major issue. I'd advise any man to stay put near his kids.
And Oh Bernadetta I know exactly what you're saying about that mantra. I just can't stand it. Probably half my friends growing up had divorced parents. And even in elementary school we were told as kids how this adjustment could be good for kids and all of that.
But behind the trees or in the locker room, wherever taboo topics are discussed, my friends would always reveal the difficult truth. They'd always tell us how we never could understand how hard this was, having to choose between parents, all of that. They were right: some of us did not have to choose like that. You're right, that mantra is a social dogma to underpin whatever the adult in question wants to do.
But men, all I can say is, stay near your kids at all costs. No matter how taboo it is, father's rights and the kid having the right to have a father around, is extremely important. If you give an inch, you will lose a mile and never get an inch of that back. Plus, as a dad you are already socially stigmatized. Way worse for you as a single dad, but even us in long-term situations with our kids were always held with suspicion. It's a real problem. And I applaud staying put. Because if you move with the child, she can go to the courts in tears telling them you are running off with her baby. If you move without the child, same court, same tears, only this time it's because you're abducating your parental responsibilities. If she moves, don't expect any sympathies from the courts, however. You have to be ready to follow her for the sake of the child.
Sorry this topic has been derailed thus far, but the issues are very poignant and real. Even if I myself was not subjected to what many men I know have suffered, I have seen it second hand.
Glad that is one thing I don't have to worry about at this time and I don't plan to. I'm now looking for work and willing to go just about anywhere if I have to, preferably in a city or urban environment obviously because it's easier to get around, and I've been bored with being in the country my entire life. During the times I went to some cities I felt so free. My family doesn't understand this though -- they don't get why I'd be willing to move across country if I had to, but I'm so eager to get my life moving that I'll do it in a heart beat. It would be nice if I stayed closer to family, and the chances of doing this are pretty good, but if I don't get any other opportunities I'll fly like a free bird because you only get so many chances. And it won't be as though I'll never talk to them again or keep them out of the light of what's going on with me.
Back to the resume: Windows 95?
Ya spelled Mozilla wrong.
So is it spelled Mozylla, or Muhzilla, or Mahzilla?
All ways one can make it sound the same to many screen reader users now. I've probably confuzzled the OP though.
A few comments...
If you're going to say LWSB Graduate, you'll need to list the institution's full name. Consider if this helps you.
What specific skills did you use? What were the measurable outcomes?
Quickly masters technology...give an example? What technology, and how long did it take you to master it?
The phrase “equivalent of nine months of hands-on experience" really jumps out at me. Either it's hands-on experience or it's not. What does equivalent mean? If it wasn't hands-on, what was it?
Proven competence...how? What software, how many desktops, what awesome things happened as a result of your work?
Operating systems: looks like you're providing a list for the resume screeners, but I'm okay with that. Although I doubt anything prior to Windows XP is that relevant outside a few small niches.
Software: Same as above. You have misspelled the name of at least one manufacturer.
IT Experience: Why indicate that you were self-employed?
Verb tenses change throughout your resume. I'd pick one and stick with it.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
It's Lions world services for the Blind. I have never gone there, but recognize the name.