Resume/Cover Letter for Joshua McCue Koenig

Phone: (646)498-3554
Email: joshk@outlandishjosh.com
http://www.outlandishjosh.com

Cover Letter:

I've been immersed in the worlds of computers, information technology and design since the age of five when I started writing my own adventure games on my home computer. I got on the internet 10 years ago at the age of 12 and never looked back. I've done literally everything from copy writing to database administration, tech support to business plans.

In addition to being highly technically proficient (I speak a ludicrous amount of acronyms), I have a strong "right brain" background in the arts. Hell, why not admit it? I have a BFA. I've written a play. I dance.

What I bring to the table is essentially the ability to straddle gaps. I'm a experienced geek-to-human translator. I'm adept at balancing aesthetic and pragmatic concerns. I can write. I'm a energized freethinking individualist who loves to collaborate. I dig both the creative process and straight-up problem solving.

I am constantly fascinated by the ways in which more and more open access to information and ever-increasing processing power are re-writing the geography of business, politics, and the arts. I seek to couple my skills and insight with others to enable mutual success. More to the point, I want to lease my mind to a worthy cause -- engaging in as many tasks, situations and challenges as possible -- while I perfect my own schemes for world domination.

You can learn more about me than you may want to know at: http://www.outlandishjosh.com

Goal/Objective:

To find fulfilling, well paying employment with quality people. For further explanation see Lengthy Personal Statement at end of resume.

Education:

Bachelor of Fine Arts, New York University, New York, NY: Matriculated into the Tisch School of the Arts out of high school as a National Merit Scholar. Graduated with honors after 3 and 1/2 years. Cumulative GPA: 3.68

Employment:

July 1996 - Present: Internet & New Media Consultant: I have been self-employed as an internet/new-media/IT hired gun for 7 years. My areas of expertise are in project management, communications, web/database application development, and content creation.

Sample Projects:

  • Developed online survey software for large state university, including analysis and reportage functionality. Later used by other clients, including major architecture firm.
  • Extensively modified existing open-source content management tool to provide more specific functionality.
  • Developed online global meeting registration system for fortune 500 company.
  • Developed real-estate listing software for commercial and residential real-estate offices.

August 2001 - November 2002: Webmaster, logreport.org/.com: I worked to rebuild the logreport.org website, incorporating new designs and updating content and structure. Also developed logreport.com from scratch, including designs and site copy. Provided business consulting advice as part of international development team. Developed XML and XSLT functionality for Free Software product Lire.

January 1999 - May 2001: Developer, GRAWK.net: As part of an open source/free software development community I have been in charge of numerous technical support, administrative and development duties. Began as apprentice, ended up provided leadership and management to many projects.

August 1999 - December 2000: Resident Assistant, NYU Reslife: Helped to administrate a dormitory housing over 700 diverse undergraduate and graduate students. Tasks range from community development to activity planning to crisis management, plus a lot of bureaucratic maneuvering, handing out condoms, and filling out triplicate forms.

April 1998-May 1999: Student Consultant, NYU ACF: Was senior aid in Multimedia Academic Computing Facility, a combination of tutoring and tech support. I helped out students, staff and faculty with questions ranging from, "why won't my e-mail print?" to, "Why doesn't my CGI file do what I want it to?" to, "How do I scan?" Highly regarded by department staff.

References available upon request

Other Significant Achievements:

November 1996: Won 3rd prize in the Arts & Literature category of the 1st annual ThinkQuest Scholarship Competition. Competition was for best educational web site. Collaborated with two acquaintances from rural Oregon to create "The Creative Nexus," an online student art gallery, open to submissions. Prize was $9,000 in scholarship, allowing me to attend NYU. To check out the page click here

February-June 1996, May-June 1997: Co-authored and taught an anti-sexual-harassment and anti-violence curriculum at my high school. My specific focus as an author and teacher was communication. Lessons learned here have proved invaluable throughout my lifetime.

Computer Skills:

Expertise in networking/communications, PHP, Perl, HTML (raw editing), SQL and CGI. Proficient in MacOS (9.2 and X), Windows (3.1, 95/98/2k, NT), DOS, and most breeds of Unix. Can use MS Word, Powerpoint, and Excel, Adobe Pagemaker and Photoshop, Quark, BBedit, Dreamweaver, Flash and a host of other applications. In addition, I am %99 self-taught, so I catch on to new applications and environments very quickly.

Other Skills/Strong Points:

Teaching/training, leadership/management, basic sales skills, good customer service values and communications skills, excellent self-motivator, have the desire to see a project through to completion.

Summary of URLs to check:

http://www.outlandishjosh.com
http://www.logreport.org
http://www.logreport.com
http://www.sturtoncoaching.com
http://www.emu.uoregon.edu
http://library.thinkquest.org/3089/
http://www.nyu.edu/tisch/drama/etw/

Lengthy Personal Statement:

As advertised! Actually, this whole section is an expression of my distaste for phony "goal/objective" statements; they tend to be simplistic, unrealistic and are usually sycophantic (for instance, "Goal/Objective: To work in the spiritual heaven of a fast-paced fast-food eatery). Yuck! Fear not, this statement won't be all that long, just enough to give you an idea -- a real idea as opposed to a sound byte -- of who I am and what I want out of a job.

First of all, a job must be something that engages me, something that causes me to rise to it. Repetitive tasks that involve little mental activity and/or skill hold no interest. Assignments that challenge me and require critical and creative thinking are the ones I prize.

Second, teamwork is of paramount importance. Even the most interesting and rewarding job is ruined by a sub-par assortment of coworkers. Conversely, even the most odious of tasks is made bearable by the presence of good-natured helping hands. I enjoy a work environment that is focused and friendly. In my experience, the ideal co-worker relationship is synergistic: the combination of talents results in higher output (and enjoyment) than each could produce individually, the workforce becoming more than the sum of its parts. This is the relationship I foster with my stable of fellow developers, designers and consultants.

Lastly, management is key. This is the cornerstone of the my first two points: without clear goals and the backup needed to reach them, working in pressure situations is nigh impossible. Also, I have found that the demeanor of coworkers is usually in some way a reflection of management's attitude.

So, to conclude, all I really want is to work with fun people solving multi-dimensional problems that require skill and thought on many levels. And, just in case you were wondering, have a high sense of self-value, so I want to get paid damn well for it. Hopefully this has given you an actual idea about my attitude and ideas towards work. Thanks for reading.