Interview with Robert Gail (IT Helpdesk Supervisor)

We at Technibble.com have decided to open up a new section for interviews which we believe will be useful to our members. There are many IT courses out there with many acronyms that all have different levels of value and desirability for employers. It is sometimes hard to know which ones to go for and to know which ones are actually used in the industry so this is why Technibble has decided to interview those actually in the industry dealing with this sort of thing everyday. For our first interview we have decided to interview Robert Gail, age 44, who is a IT Helpdesk Supervisor for the Albuquerque Public School system and a friend of ours.

Tell us about your IT education and how it fits in with your career in the field?

My computer education started before the end of high school. In today’s world, that is not so “out-of-the-ordinary, but in 1978, there were no home computers. I studied the macro and FORTRAN IV languages on an IBM 360/70 and a PDP 11.

By contrast, all of the 14 high schools I manage support for offer the Comtia course work (for the A+ certification) locally at the schools. If you also attend the Career Enrichment Center (an alternative school in our district), you can become certified with Microsoft (MCSE, MCP, MSCT), Cisco, Digital Media – right as you are leaving high school. You can have skills for immediate employment.

I served in the Navy after High School, and upon my discharge 4 years later, I realized much of what I did in the Navy was not a direct match to anything on land. I understood electronics, that helped, but in the desert I called home, there are no aircraft carriers to be seen. I entered the University of New Mexico for 2 years for the Computer Science coursework. As I progressed, so did the need for more knowledge. I obtained certification in Laser Electro-Optic Technology, and basic computer repair from Comptia. Later on, I went back to school for Oracle DB management. Later on, I went back to school for project management.

What do you enjoy most about your career?

The most important thing in a career is pride. That is the difference between a career and a job. The most important thing in a job is dollars. I have pride in my work.

Our district uses technology in every aspect of our educational process. My job requires that I am knowledgeable in many different technologies. My training has covered telephony, networking, applications, programming and of course, customer service. It pays to come into a job such as this with certification in computer networking or applications right away. Other aspects can be taught OJT, but proving an aptitude for technology is imperative. That takes paper. You get paper by completing training.

How have your experiences in previous positions contributed to your success?

I have worked in technology my entire working career. All of these experiences have added something to the collective whole that is the intellectual property that I bring to the table.

I must point to my experience at Honeywell, Inc. in the development of software for the Boeing 777 aircraft as a huge milestone. Being certified in ADA programming, and using that skill for code that is flying on the jet, has certainly opened doors for me after the plane certified.

Also, I learned a simple adage that the job is never done until the paperwork is complete. Documentation, configuration management and revision control of documents were a must in getting FAA Black Label certification for the aircraft. I spearheaded the documentation effort and learned a great deal about the business of programming.

Another interesting spin on technology and perhaps one of the highest paying is sales. I worked as a network consultant for US West (back then that was the name). This position required that I contact businesses, get permission to examine their phone network, and recommend changes. This required a very detailed knowledge of digital phone systems, voice-over-ip, DSS, and telephony software. If my changes were applied (sold), I received 4% of the total of the phone contract (their monthly bill times 84 months). That was lucrative. That was Arizona; Qwest now is not seen as the shining some of telephony anymore and state regulations have closed some laws that allowed that business to thrive. It is hard to cold call businesses, but once you get used to it, there is money to be made. And business owners love to listen to gurus.