I, uh, am contract IT. The work I do goes far beyond that, really. I am help-desk, policy coordinator, server administrator, network administrator, systems and network engineer, vendor liaison, integration engineer, disaster recovery specialist, risk analysis specialist, AVG AntiVirus reseller, and so on. All wrapped up in one petite 215lb package. :-)
On the side (can you have side jobs when you're self-employed?) I also run a small server system (five machines, Windows and Solaris) which host websites (PHP, CF, .Net), warehouse databases (MSSQL2005 and MySQL5), provide SMTP ingress and egress, provide secondary NS and MX, and so on.
My big claim-to-fame here in town is my experience with Solaris and various *nix flavors (99% of the tolerable people around here are Windows folks) and my understanding of VPNs.
I have an intuition with computers in general, which I believe to be a natural-born talent but also fostered to a large extent by my years tinkering with the computers from the Home Computer Revolution, such as Commodore 64, Apple ][, TI-99/4A, and of course my beloved Amiga. This gives me a useful heuristic approach to computer problems, and a severe dislike for sloppy and inconsiderate programmers.
I am moving more into specializing in data recovery, secure data destruction, risk analysis, and data forensics. I have worked with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and coordinated with the FBI on server compromises. I quickly picked up on what they find useful in an investigation and have formed a couple of good relationships therein.
I've been doing this on my own for five years now, and I really hope that experience counts should I (God forbid) have to get a real job somewhere down the road :-)
