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About Arneson, MBA, PMP, MCTS

Catch me on Twitter @TheTechLeader I started my tech career in 1994 as a phone support rep for Prodigy, remember them? Too bad AOL came out with the lightning fast 14400 access lines and then 28800 killed Prodigy. Another stint in phone support landed me at Gateway computers. There must be something about me on the phone that kills companies. I don't think I'm directly at fault, just coincidence. I then entered the real world of IT, the small business. I started as LAN Administrator, which thanks to a great mentor, I learned more in the first 6 months than all my classroom education, which was officially an Associates of Science in Network Administration. I guess drinking was not a degree path according to the University of Northern Iowa. As you can guess by now, the company I was working for went bankrupt. So, I went to a new industry, high end retail service. As the IT Franchise Project Manager, we managed to setup over 50 franchise locations across the United States and Australia in just about 2 years. During this time I did get myself motivated enough to return to school for my BA in Management. Then....layoffs! I guess my luck was getting better? The entire company didn't go under, just 1/2 of the corporate office got the boot. From there I landed in the banking industry, again as the Network Administrator. I learned valuable lessons from the banking world...watch your money, banks are not your friends, and everything is negotiable. It also helped that I completed my Masters in Business Administration while working at the bank. Just like the IT world, there is a vast difference between business theory and business practice. Finally, by choice this time, I left to go into the healthcare industry and make my career path towards project management and away from network administration. My latest educational milestone is my PMP (Project Management Professional) certification. According to my brother (IBM Engineer), this makes us mortal enemies, but you know how those engineer types can be. Wow, I cannot believe you are still reading this, you must be procrastinating. Go be productive, but come back often, subscribe via email or RSS! We will provide you with valuable information, pose interesting questions, and make you think about managing the IT employee of today and the future.