October 9, 2014

Dear Gemini Recruitment Department,

As a committed and highly motivated professional in the

computer science area, with extensive working experience as a
Software Developer and Database Administrator, and lately as
Telescope and Instruments Operatoron, I am very interested in the
Science Operations Specialist position you posted last month
at www.gemini.edu web site, due to the business of the
organization as well as place of work.
I have worked for many years in service and production
industries as well as education and scientific institutions (e.g.
Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso and La Silla Paranal
Observatory), which have provided me with a broad experience
working in both, development and operation teams.

Teamwork skills and Experience

Having worked most of the time as a Software Developer and
Database Administrator since before finishing university education,
I have participated with other experts in every development stage
of each project I have been involved, delivering products on time
for professors and students in academia and financial analysts in
private in companies.
However, during the last years I have performed operational
duties as Data Handling Adminstrator and Telescope and
Instruments Operator at La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile,
which allowed me to acquired knowledge in a new area and
business, different from what I have done before.
My experience, working in a planned manner as well as
under pressure situations, gave me the opportunity to use and
develop communication and soft skills, in order to develop excellent
relationships and contribute to improve work environment, aiming
to deliver best possible service to customers.

Technical skills
Although I have not a remarkable educational background,
experience acquired during a long career has provided me with
enough knowledge to compensate for this shortage.
Among these knowledge, I can mention proficiency in
UNIX/Linux platforms, databases and some scientific software.
During last two years, my current duties allowed me to be
acquainted with Observational Astronomy and its techniques, using
cutting edge technologies as Adaptive Optics and LGS facilities.

Yours faithfully,

Ivan Aranda Contreras