I started my 'IT Career' building and supporting machines for a local white box store. Later I moved into a development gig and learned Visual C++ was not for me. I did learn, though, that I loved making machines talk to each other.

With this I moved into the SMB world as 'The IT Guy' for start-ups. I built my way up to being the 'IT Manager' for dot-coms until THAT fell apart.

Now I provide tech support for a major computer manufacturer's Enterprise Server line. I'm the OS and Software support analyst for my team.

Recently, I interviewed for another IT position. I was told "Sorry, we are looking for people who can innovate and build solutions."

How is someone supposed to respond to that? This HR droid was terminating my interview without even understanding what I currently do? In my current role, I have to be able to identify what the customer is doing in their environment that may or may not be considered a best practice, but is needed by them. I have to gauge the skill level of the person on the phone and then troubleshoot the situation. Not once, but sometimes 4 and 5 cases at the same time as I work with the hardware techs actually on the phone.

How can I get me career 'back on track'? I'm not worried about the big bucks of the late '90's, that era is gone. But I DO want to get back into building and maintaining, rather than fixing what someone else put together.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Daniel