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Describe your current job. Please expand where possible.
About 15% of my time is spent creating/maintaining Management Information Systems using the Microsoft Office 2000 suite of products. Most of these include considerable complexity. Generally these include several steps. Much of our data comes in the form of flat files downloaded from the Mainframe. Some is manually input by clerks. Some is in the form of printer dumps into text files, which must then be converted into a form which is digestable by Access (removing headers, footers, printer directives, picking out the data from the chaff, and so on). Once the data is in the database, it's generally stored and manipulated in various ways, then exported out to Excel spreadsheets (hardcoded so that it cannot be modified). The spreadsheets may or may not be linked to other spreadsheets, depending on what Management wants reported. Many of the databases and spreadsheets are very large and complex. Most have numerous forms and buttons that perform various functions and manipulations. Almost all of the databases that import data have switchboards with automated import processes that are simple enough (from the User's perspective) that a clerk can use them.
About 35% of my time is spent in Network Administration type functions. I am not technically considered a Network Administrator, due to the Division's political structure. Our LAN is an old Novell 3.1 system, with relatively little storage This system is administered remotely by the System Support Unit. I do a lot of backing up to local hard drives (the LAN has 4.3GB, where my local PC has 45GB total storage capacity). As the data ages, I write it to CD, and maintain a library so that it may be found again. The local PC's that tie into the network range from 486SX machines running DOS 6.2 & Windows 3.1 to 1.6GHz PC's running Windows 2000. The counts are as follows:
DOS - 23, NT4 - 5, W2K - 19, W95 - 20, W98 - 5
I am tasked with maintaining, configuring, installing, moving, upgrading, and everything else in connection with these PCs. In order to accomplish this, I have set up shares on all of the PCs with 32-bit operating systems so that I can copy files to/from them and perform certain other functions remotely. I have written several applications to assist in this work. As we have no repair facility, I'm often called on to re-install a PC from the ground up. We have no Imaging software, so I usually have to do a full wipe-and-install, including all of the software packages that a particular user may need. Because of the various platforms and versions of software, this can be an onerous task all by itself! At times, It's necessary to cannibalize parts from one PC to keep another running. I'm also charged with installing hardware and software on these PCs as needed, and maintaining the inventory for them. Because of the disparate platforms and machine types (the above list does not include printers, scanners, and peripherals, which I also have to maintain), I have had to write a custom application to perform this work, as well as to provide reports to Management when needed. I am also the "go-to guy" for Users who have any sort of problem. I spend a good deal of time assisting Users with lockups, password problems (they may have one for the PC, one for the LAN, one for the Mainframe, and one for the EMail system!). Of the time spent with Users, about 25% is spent resolving the problem, and about 75% is spent training and/or explaining to the Users what the problem is or how they need to accomplish a particular task. Because the Users are generally not well versed in PC use (many have never used a PC beyond simple data entry, or as a portal to the Mainframe system), it's often necessary to take them step-by-step through a process, letting them take notes. I commonly have to cook up real-world analogies that will help them to understand how the PC or program works in order to get them to a point where they will be able to use it correctly and not repeat whatever caused the error(s).
About 5% of my time is spent creating highly-custom applications and/or methodologies specific to a particular need. Sometimes this is due to a User or Office need (for instance, a custom program in VB which backed up multiple versions of a database that the users keep accidentally wiping out), and sometimes this is due to limitations in our equipment (for instance, our Mainframe portal program, Attachmate Extra!, has a very stripped-down version of VBA, which I used to create a button on the toolbar which will scroll though a user's multi-screen message, grabbing all the text, and dumping it into a file which is then opened by Word. This makes the message all one document, rather than having the user print out screen after screen then taping all the sheets together).
About 10% of my time is spent in data analysis work, usually in proving or disproving data reports generated by the Mainframe. This usually involves AdHoc reports from the Mainframe with detail data which must then be imported, stored, manipulated, cross-checked with data from other sources, and so on. Sometimes this is an ongoing process, in which case I'll need to develop automated processes as much as possible. Other times it will be one-time work.
About 15% of my time is spent in documenting all of the above. This is a Government organization, so it's not enough to document the code, programs, and methodologies used, I must often take the documentation down to the "Push this button to perform that function" level, with screen prints, captions, and explanatory text so that the work may be accomplished by clerk-level workers.
About 5% of my time is spent in meetings with Management, and preparation for same. One of the things I like best about my current job is that Management would rather have me producing, so they try hard to keep me from spending time in meetings.
Currently about 10% of my time is spent in working with my subordinate. I hired him in May, in anticipation of leaving this job, as I did not feel comfortable just leaving without a replacement.
About 5% of my time is spent doing Administrative and Supervisory work other than training. This includes such things as timesheets, State-required training classes, maintaining task lists, progress reports, and so on.
All of these estimates are subjective, and change radically depending on the needs of the organization at the time. For instance, when we purchase new computers, I may spend up to 95% of my time doing installations and roll-downs.