Chris Maier

‘I really enjoy the autonomy and the opportunity to work with so many different clients.’

What do you do at SisAdmin?
I’m the Senior Network Engineer, which means I’m responsible for all the PC, network, and system administration services for SisAdmin and a client in the same building. I also provide database management for our clients.

How did you learn to do all that – your résumé says you majored in English, with a minor in Philosophy?
I always enjoyed technology, even though my undergraduate teaching assistant job was helping freshmen learn composition and tutoring at the Writing Center. My first job doing database design and creation, came from being the only office staff that could figure it out. I also did some technical writing. From there I learned a lot on my own, and took a lot of classes.

How did you do on your MCSE certification tests?
Well! I passed all exams on the first try and got high scores.

Your career history includes 10 years in Portland, OR with Multnomah County – what’s it like to work for a smaller company now?
Well as you can imagine, working for government involves a lot of bureaucracy and the decision-making process can be snail-paced. I learned a lot there though, and had the opportunity to work on a variety of challenging projects that all had productive outcomes.

Here I really enjoy the autonomy and working with so many different clients. It’s nice to be one of the senior decision makers – we have a lot fewer meetings than I did in my previous jobs!