[Jobposts] US, CA, SF -- Sys admin. Linux, Asterisk, networking

[jennyw]

My name is Jen-Mei Wu and I've been posting here a bit lately, mostly on
behalf of Babeland. This time, though, I'm posting for my own business,
Colorful Expressions. My consuting business used to just be me, but
business has grown (this is a good thing ... I think!).  I've recently
found a Windows sysadmin to work with me as an independent contractor.
Now I'm looking for a similar arrangement with a Linux expert.

My immediate need is to find someone to help me with one and possibly
more Asterisk installations. If I can find someone with Asterisk
experience, that'd be great, but what I'm even more interested in is
finding someone that'd be easy to work with and who's good at figuring
out how to do new things.  In addition to Asterisk, it'd be great to
have general networking experience, including firewalls (both using
Linux or BSDs and also firewall appliances like NetScreen or Cisco). 

Programming experience would be helpful.  In fact, if you have any of
xhtml/css or Ruby on Rails skills, I may have other work you might be
interested in!

You'd work with me as independent contractor, which would mean you'd get
paid on a 1099 (as opposed to W-2) and would need to send me invoices
for the hours you work. I believe but do not know that U.S. citizenship
or permanent residency is required unless the invoices are coming from a
corporation.

If you're interested, please send me some information about you, a 
resume, and how much you charge per hour. If you're just getting started 
with the consulting thing, that's okay, we can just talk about it and 
find something that works for us both.

More about me and my business, in case you're wondering what you'd be
getting yourself into ...

I've spent most of my career working for software development companies,
and have worked in various jobs in both development and systems and
network administration. Before I started my own company, I was in IT and
development management. I've built IT departments from the ground up,
and have spent time in every aspect of software development, from
analysis, to programming, to QA, to tech comm, to build/scm (but not in
that order). My company today offers a mix of systems/network
administration, Web programming, and project management.

I started consulting by accident -- people who knew me would tell me
about various places that needed help with small jobs. Each small job
became something bigger, and I found myself supporting several
organizations. Four years later, I'm finding that I have more work than
I can handle, so now I'm trying to evolve into a multi-consultant
business, initially working with independent contractors, and, hopefully
in the not too distant future, eventually hiring full-time employees.

As an Asian American woman, I've been concerned about the lack of
diversity in the computer fields for a long time.  I try to volunteer
here and there to help encourage young women to take an interest in
technology, and, of course, I hang out in various technical women
communities, including Systers, LinuxChix, and WiseWomen. I'm also
interested in other social justice issues, and often spend a lot of time
doing some form of activism or another. Sometimes, work and activism 
coincide, when I help out orgs that are doing great things in the world 
(some of them for free, others for a discount off the regular consulting 
rate).

My life didn't used to be all activism and work (and now mostly work)
but it sure feels like it now. Hopefully I'll be able to find some
people to work with soon and get back to doing things like vegan cooking
and performing spoken word again ...