Employee Spotlight: Adam Post

Adam loves to learn. He began dabbling in computing and technology when he was only 12 years old, picking up programming and scripting languages and figuring out how to navigate and manipulate operating systems over time.

Adam and his family moved around Pennsylvania and North Carolina for different job opportunities as he was growing up. As they went from place to place, Adam found ways to satiate his curiosity and hone different abilities while making a little money too.

At 13, he learned how to put in flooring. Then he began learning about customer service in the restaurant industry. He gained insight into building frameworks and where cables are run as a construction assistant doing demolition, electrical, plumbing and rebuilds. Finally, he honed his customer service, planning, and inventory management skills as he grew in responsibility and roles for a retail chain.

During all that time, Adam continued to learn more and more about technology on his own. He even picked up a programming gig for a small team in Europe as a young adult.

Experiential Learning

While Adam has taken computer courses, he greatly values the expertise and skills he has developed over years of practice. In addition, he found that his recreational technical practice has actually given him an edge.

“In school, you learn what the teachers teach and it may be outdated. In this industry, everything is always changing,” Adam shared.

“By spending time learning, reading specs on software, languages and websites, and how they should work, I’ve learned how to make systems work. And knowing how the system works is the key to managing it,” he said.

Adam is fluent in Javascript, PHP, and many other programming and scripting languages. As he delved further into programming, Adam grew frustrated with the limitations of Windows and fell in love with open-source software and source code. He began to use Linux more and more to have complete system control and a much larger user space. This enabled him to make the system how he wanted it to work. Now, whether Adam is gaming at home or doing some graphic design – he can to do things more efficiently with lower overall system utilization. These are the skills that impressed Partners David Steele and Paul Boyer at Intrada Technologies.

Joining Intrada

He did have a little help though. The outspoken aunt of his wife, MJ, is what got Adam his initial interview with Intrada. “[MJ’s] aunt Margie attended the same church as Intrada partner, David Steele, so one day she went up to him and asked him to give me an interview.”

Despite a lack of formal college education, Adam performed so well at his interview that at one point David asked if Intrada partner Paul Boyer was intentionally trying to stump him.

After joining Intrada in 2019, Adam learned how valuable his experience in playing around with technology enhanced his technical skills. His background of working in Linux prepared him for system customization, molding the look and feel of systems, the ability to change user experience, and more.  

“After many years of learning to make the system work for what I want it to do, I’m now able to troubleshoot and fix the problem much faster than other people,” Adam said.

Since joining Intrada, Adam has continued to grow.

“I am learning as much as I can, either out of necessity or just because I want to learn,” he shared. “I’ve learned so much more than I knew when I started [at Intrada].”

Adam’s resourcefulness and research prowess have taught him what to look for and how to read into logs or issues that arise. This enables him to quickly figure out issues that may arise.

“Adam is always ready to take on new challenges and find ways that we can improve services and the Intrada experience,” shared David.  

His curiosity, drive and strong work ethic make him an essential part of Intrada Technologies’ team.

A Valued and Trusted Team Member

Adam has performed a variety of roles at Intrada including security, but his main focus now is on Linux. His job title is Linux System Administrator and Software Engineer.

When asked what his role entails, Adam replied, “I fix broken things and it changes from day-to-day. It is never the same.”

He also updates and migrates servers and databases. He also does some web development.

“I really like the freshness of my job. It is always changing. Plus, I get the instant gratification of fixing things,” Adam said. “I like the office atmosphere and my co-workers, especially Eric [Greco] too. I have had many jobs, but none have been as nice or as good as this one.”

Intrada partner David Steele shared, “As an owner, we sometimes need to push staff to think outside-of-the-box or outside of the pending schedule. Not with Adam. We have to remind him to go home or say his schedule is full. Adam is one of our go-to team members that is ready to get things done and I trust him with all aspects of his position. He continues to exceed my expectations and I value him as a core Intrada team member. Thank you, Adam, for all you do for Intrada and our clients.”

Partner Paul Boyer agreed, “Adam is an amazing part of the Intrada team. He goes above and beyond to provide clients and team members with excellent support. We hope you know how valuable and important you are to this organization’s mission, Adam!”

Plenty of Personality

Besides being a driven, innovative problem-solver, Adam is also a patient teacher to clients or incoming staff. His love of computing and technology hasn’t waned over the years. He taught his wife how to use Linux and currently in the midst of teaching his five-year-old son, Noah, how to code with some entry-level coding games.

Adam is a dedicated father to Noah and his son looks up to him. Little Noah now wants to work at Intrada too and asks to go into the office with his dad.

One reason Noah may want to come in to the office is to see his father’s fun sense of humor on display. Adam and Eric are often cracking jokes and having fun with other staff members – many times using technology to create hilarious shenanigans. Their play balances out the hard work they put in each day.

When not working, learning, or cooking up some funny jokes to play on other Intrada staff members, Adam enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, MJ, who he married on Halloween 2020. They enjoy watching movies and playing with Noah and their dog, Seamus.