To be written.

To be written.

To be written.

1. Why don't you have education listed, do you have certifications?

   I decided in the past few years that my educational history isn't necessarily revelant to my career as it has been nearly a decade since I graduated school and I don't hold certificates. I started working as a network engineer by recommendation from my then CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) teacher even before I had graduated from high school (or secondary school as it may be in other nationalities.) I was one of the only students to receive a paid internship thanks to that teacher and I have been focused on my work ever since. I've studied Microsoft, VMWare, Cisco, and other vendor agnostic certification topics, but my focus has been firmly centered on pushing my work forward and assisting my team. I admit there are benefits to taking these exams and having certificates to show aptitude, but I have always put my work, the relationship with my team, my health, and my family first.

2. Can you summarize the technologies you've worked with?

   It's a bit difficult to summarize everything I've worked with, my real specialization is in research and automation, and this means I've worked on a broad range of applications and platforms. I began my career working as a network engineer, working primarily with Cisco 3850 switches on the IOS XE operating system which I built tools for our teams to collect data on and build configurations for more easily. I did a brief stint working on security systems where I learned more about low voltage wiring and RF signal management. I've spent the rest of my career working with the following technologies, among many others:

   • Dell servers, this includes building specifications, purchasing, configuration of iDRAC, and troubleshooting hardware faults.

   • HP servers, including configuration of iLO and troubleshooting hardware faults.

   • Dell SANs (Powerstores mainly), I've built specifications for purchasing, handled routine maintenance, and managed support with a bit of configuration when necessary.

   • VMWare vCenter & ESXi, this is the primary hypervisor I am familiar with and makes up the vast majority of the bare-metal operating systems for the environments I've worked in. Very familiar with setup, maintenance, migration, upgrades, and specific functions such as vMotion.

   • Microsoft cloud and on-prem technologies including but not limited to:

     • AD, including setup and administration of multi-domain environments with asymmetric trusts.

     • File servers with replicated DFS & FSRM.

     • IIS with internal and external websites, some examples being intranet sites, SCEP services, internal repositories for PowerShell modules and other resources. All secured following minimal access principals and https.

     • On-premise Exchange and Exchange Online, both administered in part via PowerShell.

     • OneDrive & Sharepoint, including the initial setup and migration from on-premise resources.

     • Group Policies, specifically focused on security hardening servers and workstations as well as implementing policy based software deployment and configuration.

   • Palo Alto firewalls, specifically newer devices like the 1400 and 400 series which I have handled purchasing and setup to replace aged out ASAs. I've personally setup site-to-site VPNs with multipath routing, redundant WAN connections with load-balancing, inter-VLAN routing, and all of this with App-ID, SSL decryption, and other security features.

   • SonicWall firewalls, all the same things I've done with Palo Alto firewalls, I actually have more experience with SonicWalls, but more training in Palo Altos.

   • Cisco switches, firewalls (primarily ASAs), call controllers, and wireless equipment. Cisco dominated my early career and it'd be difficult to summarize all the Cisco equipment/software I've worked with, but to put it simply I've either setup or replaced just about every piece of Cisco equipment shipped in the past 10 years at some point. My career started with CCNA courses in my third year of high school (or secondary school for other nationalities) which extended to a paid internship at a Cisco reseller and installation contractor before I'd graduated.

   • HPE switches, due to their licensing and support model HPE switches became a favorite for the MSP I worked at and were the default upgrade path for existing equipment for nearly 5 years of my career.

   • Ubiquiti switches and wireless equipment, I've also worked with their dream machine devices, but primarily their wireless equipment. This includes things like long-range repeaters over multiple miles as well large-scale deployments of VLAN enabled access points.

   • Veeam Backup and Replication, by far the backup solution I am most familiar with, the one I've used for my entire career both personally and professionally. I've done partial and full restores including more complicated scenarios like restoring AD or certificate servers.

   • ManageEngine Endpoint Central, I've received a significant amount of training on the ManageEngine software stack where Endpoint Central is just one of many applications, but it's the one I've used daily for years. I'm familiar with the patch management and software deployment systems as well as the MDM and management features which I've often used to keep out of the way of users while I repair their systems.

   • Datto RMM, similar situation as with ManageEngine Endpoint Central. For years I was in charge of the development of our Datto RMM toolset when I worked at Obsidian IT and am very familiar with its workings and capabilities.

   • Powershell, I originally learned programming vith Visual Basic, then C#, but for the past 6 years I've been using PowerShell for just about everything possible. Full deployment frameworks, build systems, monitoring with auto resolution and/or notifications, and much more. I've written tens of thousands of lines of code in PowerShell, not just boilerplate either, but hundreds of deployment templates, functions, classes, and one-off scripts. I've created, deployed, and maintained modules and repositories. I love PowerShell and coding/scripting in general, it's the last line of defence against a solution being impossible, if nothing else works, make something new. I make a point to follow the best practices laid out by Microsoft which includes human-readable variable names, self-documenting code, usage of approved verbs in function names, logical class heirarchies with minimal inheritance, comments when needed, and explicit help text.

   I realize of course that is quite the long "summary", there is yet more I could talk about in detail. My career has been defined not by specialization, but in acquiring information, and then trying to use that information towards whatever goal is at hand in a way that is safe, secure, and effective.

3. Where do you see yourself in five years?

   This has always been a classic question, I've been asked this question more than a few times, and I've asked it of those I've interviewed when I've hired people. The truth is we can't know much about what the future holds so it can be tough to give an answer that is honest to all my fears and ambitions. The thing I want the most in the next five years is safety and security for my wife and I. I want to be able to look back on the work I've done and be proud of the things I've made and the people I've worked with. Whatever that means in five years I don't know the details of, but I know those are the things I want to have and be able to do, and I work every day to make that a reality above all else. If I need to lead, I'll lead, if I need to follow, I'll follow, and when I need to learn I'll learn. I cannot fail if the goal is always to do the best that I can.

4. Your FAQ is short, are you going to add more questions?

   There are certainly many more questions I've been asked over the years, but I've been fortunate to have only ever had a few interviews. It doesn't feel particularly humble to say so, but I have not yet walked out of an interview without the job, I've been tremendously lucky in my life. You can help me add more questions to this list by at least giving me a chance and getting in contact for an interview with me, I'll do my best to answer all questions as honestly and fully as possible. If you'd like to reach out to me directly for any reason please feel free to send me an email to codyrstearns@gmail.com and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm able. If it's urgent or you just prefer verbal communication you can give me a call at +1 (530) 768-6409.

   My sincerest thank you for taking the time to read through my resume.