Information Technology and Services Consultant
Greater Seattle Area
- Current
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- Owner at SoundUnReason (Sole Proprietorship)
- Past
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- Systems Engineer at Widevine Technologies
- Network Support Specialist at X-BAR
- Internal Technical Support Analyst at Milliman Care Guidelines
- Desktop Support Technician at Adobe Systems
- Linux Systems Administrator at Vigilos
- Computer Support Technician II at University of Washington School of Nursing
- Customer Service Representative at Amazon.com
- Wire Transfer Specialist at Seafirst
- Pay-by-Phone Support Specialist at Washington Mutual
- Education
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- University of Washington
- Seattle Central Community College
- Lake Stevens High School
- Recommended
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4 people have recommended James - Connections
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48
connections
- Industry
- Information Technology and Services
- Websites
James Cook’s Summary
I am seeking a full-time career setting for a long term commitment in the technology arena.
Deployed: WordPress, OpenFire (Jabber), Blackberry (server), Fedora 9, Vista, SBS 2003, Exchange
Designed, implemented, & maintained internal site as resource for equipment rollouts and software installations for UW School of Nursing Help Desk
Improved response time & customer service expectations for UW School of Nursing Help Desk
Selected as mentor at Amazon.com after one month of employment
Graduated with honors from UW
James Cook’s Specialties:
Unprecedented writing skills; excellent organizational & communication skills
Experience: installing/upgrading hardware/software & with network construction, maintenance, security, & admin
Proficiencies: HTML, HTTP, TCP/IP, & other Web related protocols
Also: Perl, JavaScript, Windows Registry, Active Directory, Exchange 2007
OS's: Unix, Linux (RedHat, Fedora, SuSe), Windows, Mac
Applications: Opera, MS Office, OpenOffice, Mozilla, WinRar, KeyPass
James Cook’s Experience
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Owner
SoundUnReason (Sole Proprietorship)
(Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Information Technology and Services industry)
2007 — Present (2 years)
http://SoundUnReason.com/InkWell
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Systems Engineer
Widevine Technologies
(Privately Held; Computer Software industry)
July 2008 — September 2008 (3 months)
Responsible for tier-3 monitoring and management of High Availability proprietary Content Management and Security Encryption applications running on over 300 Red Hat Enterprise Linux production servers located globally, including network connectivity troubleshooting and maintenance.
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Network Support Specialist
X-BAR
(Information Technology and Services industry)
June 2007 — June 2008 (1 year 1 month)
Built and acted as helpdesk in IT consulting role, supporting a wide range of small and medium sized businesses in the Seattle area and beyond.
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Internal Technical Support Analyst
Milliman Care Guidelines
(Information Technology and Services industry)
April 2006 — February 2007 (11 months)
Reporting directly to the XML System Architect, worked with authoring group to diagnose, troubleshoot, and find solutions to all day-to-day issues which arose in Arbortext (XML editor), Astoria (content management system), or PubsTracker (asp.NET application) while maintaining clear lines of communication between the authoring group and the development team.
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Desktop Support Technician
Adobe Systems
(Public Company; ADBE; Computer Software industry)
July 2005 — October 2005 (4 months)
In a team environment, provided high level of technical and desktop support while recognizing priority issues and escalation paths.
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Linux Systems Administrator
Vigilos
(Information Technology and Services industry)
June 2005 — June 2005 (1 month)
Worked to acquire the most knowledge possible about Linux systems administration given the short duration of the assignment.
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Computer Support Technician II
University of Washington School of Nursing
(Higher Education industry)
October 2004 — May 2005 (8 months)
Built and managed the helpdesk in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. Since there was no management in place during my contract period I also acted as manager de facto for the IT group.
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Customer Service Representative
Amazon.com
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; AMZN; Internet industry)
September 1999 — June 2001 (1 year 10 months)
In a call center environment, supported sellers with programming issues in relation to auction & fix-price sales websites. Generated site reports. Swiftly promoted. Advised on state and federal regulatory issues, trade rules, and company policy. Developed baseline comment text to establish a database used in standardizing communication to customers. Wrote Perl scripts to automate communication. Wrote JavaScript for optimizing the site search utility. Performed db cleanup & data conversion. Performed helpdesk function for site related systems bugs, issue tracking, & working with development staff to ensure fixes, beta testing of fixes, & follow-up with users for total resolutions. Communicated complicated concepts to a wide audience, transcending language, educational, & skill-set barriers. Handled high-end customer relations for sothebys.amazon.com & Sotheby's London division, which required excellent communication skills & use of diplomacy in resolving sensitive transaction issues.
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Wire Transfer Specialist
Seafirst
(Banking industry)
1995 — 1999 (4 years)
Initially performed teller duties at Fisherman’s Terminal branch including customer and merchant transaction processing; repeatedly won Perfect Balancing awards.
Accepted position in wire transfer’s call center. Communicated with large-scale merchants & branches to perform wire transfers ranging from $100 to $20,000,000 (or more). Responsible for ensuring compliance with federal regulations, security procedures, & company policy. Worked in highly controlled environment with recorded communications where attention to detail and meeting federal deadlines was critical. Trained staff and developed reference material for branch use (WireRoom Quick Ref Guide & LiveWire Tips). Developed new procedures for processing wires at cost savings to department. Recognized by Ideas in Action & Banking on You programs (top performer 3rd quarter 1998); Team of the Quarter Award for two consecutive quarters (1998). Programmed several shortcuts for Key Quencer, a MAC based software application. -
Pay-by-Phone Support Specialist
Washington Mutual
(Information Technology and Services industry)
1993 — 1995 (2 years)
Initially worked in the Pay-by-Phone call center. Ensured compliance with federal regulations, security procedures, and company policy. Communicated complicated concepts to a wide audience, transcending language, educational, and skill-set barriers. Assisted clients in system navigation and problem resolution with merchants. Performed database cleanup and data conversion. Worked in highly controlled environment where attention to detail was critical. Trained new staff members.
Accepted a position as one of six persons supporting the Pay-by-Phone department (CSR’s, Supervisors, and Managers) in a self-supervised team environment. Created and maintained merchant accounts. Investigated and resolved billing issues. Performed help-desk function for system related bugs involving issue tracking and working with other departments and merchants to ensure proper crediting of funds and follow-up with users for total resolutions.
James Cook’s Education
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University of Washington
2 BA's , Philosophy + History and Philosphy of Science , 2000 — 2004
I have earned two Bachelor's Degrees from the University of Washington. I graduated with distinction (honors) in both degree programs and took a minor in Architecture with my HPS degree.
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Seattle Central Community College
AA , Philosophy & Psychology , 1992 — 1995
- Activities and Societies:
- Phi Theta Kappa (1993.06.08)
Legislative Liaison for SCCC Student Council (1992-1994)
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Lake Stevens High School
Diploma , College Prep , 1983 — 1987
Additional Information
James Cook’s Websites:
James Cook’s Groups:
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Amazon Alumni -
University of Washington Alumni Group -
Phi Theta Kappa -
Amazon.Com -
Amazon Global Network -
Volvo Amazon -
SMB IT Forum
James Cook’s Honors:
Graduated from SCCC with honors
Graduated from UW with distinction in two degree programs
James Cook’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
