(I do wonder if this forum ought to be renamed the introduction forum or something. That seems to be what it's mainly used for.)
Anyhow, I am here because on the recruitment page for TTI it recommends introducing oneself on the forums prior to making an official application. Since I find it generally pays off to follow the directions, that's exactly what I've gone and done.
(WRT is short for With Regards To. For some reason, I use that phrase a lot right now.)
WRT Eve Online:
My main EVE character is Ginuad Amarasen, Amarr Engineer. I found Engineer to be a very good all-round choice as it gives me basic skills in mining, production (which I have not done yet) and ship upgrades.
This affords me the ability to mine in the more dangerous parts of Empire while being able to defend myself adequately.
At present I am hovering at about 1.4M skill points, which does put me on the newbier end of things.
I have been playing EVE Online for less than a month, however I've been wanting to play it for years (ever since learning of TTI, actually). It's just that only recently I finally got a PC capable of running the game (barely). As a result, I am much more well-read than quite a few newbies and despite being the newer member of my present corp, I tend to be the go-to guy for information for everything except combat (of which I am admittedly pretty ignorant).
I am the owner of 11 Tormentors (My corp got involved in a war, I was advised to purchase some spare ships and Tormentors were cheap. In retrospect this was perhaps not the best purchasing decision I've ever made) 5 Punishers, 1 Omen (Presently my main mining ship) and 1 Arbitrator (Which will probably become my mining ship once I have drones up to 5).
I'm not quite sure how I'd classify myself with regards to role. Obviously, mining is the main thing I do. Although I generally regard it as the thing that I do when I can't think of anything better to do, because it pays so well.
Truth be told, I actually make a fair bit of money on the side from snarking in local. People will send you money if you're funny and I'm pretty good at that (more on that later).
You will very rarely see me mining in places with security higher than 0.6, even if the ore is no better quality. This is because I like being attacked near constantly by rats. It keeps things interesting and also helps quite nicely with the profits. I find I tend to make more money at the margins from a Salvager 1 than I would from having another Miner 2.
As a result, this does tend to make me less productive in terms of ore output than miners who fill every available turret slot with Miner 2s. However, if you have a need for a miner with a sense of adventure and a thirst for danger, I'm your man! I haven't mined in low-sec or 0.0 yet, but once I have enough skill points to stand a chance I'd love to give it a try.
Presently, I am planning on training up my skills for cloaking and covert ops. I think cloaking has a great deal of potential to be useful for miners who work in dangerous areas, particularly in 0.0 space. I am also interested in the intel-gathering and scouting side of things, as I displayed a certain talent for these in the corp war I was recently involved in. Quite a few corpmates got ganked in much better ships than mine a few times while I avoided coming under any fire despite spending a fair amount of time mining. My natural paranoia gives me habits which make it very easy for me to sense and react to potential threats quickly enough that mining in high-risk situations is worth the effort. I would like to take that to the next level by doing actual scouting or even perhaps some stealth-bombing, should the need ever arise (I've always been lousy at straight-on fights, but fantastic at taking people out ninja-style.)
WRT Real Life:
I must admit I'm a little intimidated by some of the RL stories of people applying, people with their own businesses and such despite being not much older than me. I'm not quite as cool as that, yet.
I'm 25 years old and I live in Australia. Despite having a couple of degrees under my belt, I haven't managed to forge a career path successfully yet, but I am working towards it. I have the polymath's curse, namely a sense of interest in things that wanders of its own accord and thus makes me unwilling to specialise in something like respectable folk do. I figure I'll make up for it eventually since the saying goes that "A Jack of all trades and master of none, is oftentimes better than a master of one".
My degrees are in Business and Arts, for business I majored in Human Resources, specialising in organisational psychology and industrial relations (contract negotiation, the legal part of HR). For arts, I specialised in Japanese but unfortunately have since forgotten most of what I was taught. While I aced cultural subjects my abilities with the language were always mediocre (my fault, not the teacher's) and I also lacked a specific key competency for Japanese - getting along with Japanese people. I'm rather big and loud and opinionated, three things which the Japanese find amusing in small doses, but annoying qualities in someone they plan on being around regularly. Several of my friends who also majored in Japanese say I'm just going through "Japan Burnout" and it's all part of the process, but right now I have no plans on anything Japanese in my future.
I am extremely self-critical. I'd change that, but I know that the laser-like intensity of my self-analysis is one of the big driving forces behind my achievements and toning it down risks me becoming lazy. I am horrible at job interviews as a result of this, so I have a terrible time finding work (but usually no trouble keeping it, so long as my boss is not dodgy). The gruelling Taggart interview process does make me rather anxious as a result. Do bear in mind that I don't believe in hiding my flaws, since I believe they will come to the fore eventually. With myself, there does not tend to be nasty surprises down the line, unless those who play the game of pretending to be something they're not to get their foot in the door.
This is all a long-winded way of saying that...erm, I'm still a student
I am presently studying electronic engineering at the trade level, since there is presently a glut of people wanting to design MRI machines, but a lack of people willing to fix them when they break down. As a result, money is good at the technician level and jobs are easy to get if you're competent, despite it being cheaper and easier to qualify than a degree. (And since I already have 2 degrees, I don't really see a need for another wall ornament)
I hope to eventually start my own business, either designing and selling my own products, or as an independent contractor. Much as I would like to start this immediately, I do understand that in the game of life, I am but a noob. And as such it would be prudent for me to take advantage of the fact that life is long to gain more experience and wisdom before I take the plunge. I do so hate apologising for that, but I often do feel I could do better.
In addition to studying electronics, I am also learning some performing arts. I am learning how to sing (although I don't practise as often as I should - EVE has not helped with that) and can manage a powerful Baritone. I'm a little disappointed that my singing style is more suited to musical theatre than pop, but perhaps as I mature I can remedy that. I am interested in learning how to play keyboards, because I love synthesisers (particularly Korg) although I feel I should get my singing sorted out before I get started on that.
I am also starting out in standup comedy, with my first gig in a few weeks. My family and friends have been urging me for years to give it a try and I finally summoned up the nerve to go bravely forth and suck (because everyone sucks at first). I've always just had a natural gift for seeing the ridiculous in things and an unusually high sensitivity to irony. When that's combined with my natural eloquence and lack of fear for being verbally vicious, it can make me quite hilarious, provided the caustic edge of my tongue is not too harsh for your tastes. Some people do seem to like it, since as I've mentioned, I've actually had people transfer several million isk to me because they found my snark and rants on local to be amusing.
WRT Objectivism & philosophy:
This is perhaps my biggest worry WRT being able to join the corp, because I don't know how objectivist you need to be in order to qualify.
I don't tend to say "I am X" or "I belong to belief system X" unless I'm really serious about it, particularly if it's something that I respect, because I don't want to drag it into disrepute by being a piker. There's already enough people who do that without me doing it as well.
So I don't self-identify as Objectivist. Because I don't really like a great deal of Ayn Rand's non-fiction work, I think a great deal of it has often been done better by someone else. In particular, what I read of Rand's attempts to create an "objective" system of aesthetics just struck me as laughable.
Also, I'm not an atheist, I'm Christian. That said, after reading Atlas Shrugged, I ended up re-interpreting the Bible in a way that makes me unwelcome in pretty much any church you can think of (churches in Australia tend to be pretty socialist). I should note I'm not the evangelical type, I tend to mainly get along with Pagans and atheists. I tend to regard religion as being a person's own business and I hope you'll feel the same way WRT my own beliefs on religion.
But that said, Atlas Shrugged. Oh but that was a work of complete and unadulterated brilliance! If there is one area in which Ayn Rand absolutely rules supreme it is in the field of moral and ethical philosophy. I started re-reading the book recently and I am stunned anew at just how powerfully and eloquently she captured the essence of several dilemmas. There are so many points at which what she says is in complete concordance with what I have always suspected to be true, but never could discern the reason why, but she could.
As such, my moral and ethical view of the world is heavily informed by Objectivism and in practical terms I find I would have no substantial disagreement with any of the Capital O Objectivists who work at TTI.
I first came into contact with Objectivism from the editorial cartoonists Cox & Forkum. They were so clever and insightful and said they owed it all to Ayn Rand. Naturally I was curious and did some googling. Guess who came up? TTI! It was on the basis of the excerpt of John Galt's speech on your page that I decided to buy Atlas Shrugged. A friend of mine that I showed it to put it best: "That is art."
Ayn Rand did me a great favour by introducing me to philosophy by making philosophy accessible to me like no others since have done. That said, other philosophers I have read since are dear to my heart. Foremost amongst them being Eric Hoffer and Viktor Frankl. I am also greatly fond of the philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment, David Hume and John Stewart Mill being foremost amongst them.
I loathe both Kant and Plato. I have discovered few totalitarian ideologies whose philosophical route cannot be traced back to Plato. And I have discovered few in recent centuries that did not have Kant as the chief enabler of their toxic insanity.
Wrapping up:
I think I have by this point adequately touched on the information you would wish to know about a potential applicant for TTI. If you have any further questions you wish to ask of me, please feel free and I shall endeavour to answer to the best of my ability.
In any case, if you have read all of this thus far, I thank you for your perseverance. I can get a bit long winded once I get started
