FSF looking for Sys Admin

Chris Brenton cbrenton at chrisbrenton.org
Fri Dec 17 07:03:01 EST 2004


On Fri, 2004-12-17 at 06:27, Travis Roy wrote:
>
> That's what I did with my BURST! job and I got it. I didn't know about 
> 40% of what I needed. But I showed them I could do it and learn and they 
> hired me.

IMHO this is awesome advice, push your limits. Being thrown into the
middle of something you have not yet mastered is the best way to cut the
curve. Sure its more work/longer hours/etc., but the payoff is worth it.

On my first day of work at my first Net Admin job (which I BSed my way
into) my boss dropped a Wellfleet router on my desk. At the time I had
*no* idea what a router was or what it even did. That night I hit a
bookstore and kept reading till they threw me out. I purchased 3 books
on my way out the door and spent all night reading. The next day in the
office I spent the day going through the product manual and tweaking the
router. When everyone went home, I deployed it and spent a good 8 hours
troubleshooting all the resulting error messages. 

So by the time my boss showed up on my third day of employment, the
router was functional and stable. Hard pressed for him not to feel like
I didn't knew all about routers before I was even hired. ;-)

> >I think this advice from Maddog is key; if you never apply, you never
> >have a chance to get the ball to your end of the court.  Write
> >a strong resume and a good cover letter (that explains how you want to
> >finish your education), and get your name in there.

Also, it helps to do something unique that distinguishes you from the
masse' of other people in the field. Write a tool, some step-by-step
guides, a book, etc. In short, anything that says you have skills and
abilities that go above and beyond the norm. 

IMHO it all comes down to how driven you are and the choices you make.
IT can be extremely lucrative if that is what you are looking for. If
other life choices take priority (want more free time, shorter ride to
the office, etc.), then that's totally cool, but recognize that you've
made these choices if you feel the current job is not paying off. 

HTH,
Chris





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