My name is Karl Weir. I set up this BLOG shortly after I lost my job that I had for the last 9 years. This is not a bitch/gripe board, but rather someplace where I can make sense of everything and hopefully give some useful insight. If you like what you read, great! Please let me know. If you don’t, well…..
So a little about me:
I was in the the technology sector as a Managing Consultant. I was ‘groomed’ for my positions,. For this, I thank every manager and co-worker I had the privilege of working with.
My career started in college while I was a student working for Micro Support at the University of Buffalo. This was in the mid-1980s when PCs were still new and the mainframe ruled. From there I got a position at ComputerLand, where it was explained to me that if I wanted to be a great consultant and really help companies, I needed to understand all the aspects, trends and motivators.
So, I started as an installer. My first self-appointed task was to automate the installation of the OS and drivers on PCs. Honestly, this gave me more time to learn new things, like networking and project management. It only took a couple of years to cycle through several positions, including Network Engineer, Project Lead, Project Manager and a transition to the darkside, Sales. In the late 1990,s I transitioned into the management of technical and consulting teams, application developers and the like.
In 2000 I helped found a company in probably one of the worst times possible after the dot-com bust. During my 9 year tenure, we implemented SAP (Both R/3 and BusinessOne(tm)) as well as several long term projects. If you are curious about them, you can view my public LinkedIn profile.
Now, I am a statistic in several ways. I am a casualty of the poor economic climate (a.k.a. unemployed) and have changed careers from Technology Services to Insurance Claims Adjusting. So, part of this blog is about how someone transitions from being a manager working with companies to becoming an independent insurance adjuster.
The Other Side of Me
My wife Jen and I both maintain web pages on hiking, camping, backpacking. WNYHIKES.COM is a biography of our hiking adventures with maps and photos. We’ve been to quite a few places around the area. As always additions, suggestions, and corrections are welcome!