Fastest Growing Market Segment

[Mark Komarinski]

On Sun, Jun 26, 2005 at 09:48:42PM -0400, Paul Lussier wrote:
> Jon maddog Hall <maddog at li.org> writes:
> 
> > I would like to discuss this with the group:
> >
> > fdiprete at comcast.net said:
> >> The trade rags are all stating that Linux as the fastest growing market
> >> segment but....
> >
> > What I really see is that while Linux is eating into the commercial Unix,
> > proprietary system space and staving off Microsoft servers a bit, it still
> > is not expanding the over-all market that much, and in particular in the
> > "first world" countries.
> 
> The other thing I see is that companies in general are being
> *extremely* choosy.  There are a lot of people who got into IT (I hate
> that term, it's completely non-descriptive...) or the sysadmin field
> during the "boom" who really didn't have the aptitude for it, but were
> given the position because there was a scarcity of talent.  These
> people comprise most of the current "out-of-work" sysadmin crowd right
> now. As a result, companies who are looking for a good sysadmin are
> taking their time with finding exactly the right person to fit the
> position.
 
And how.  The group I worked for at Harvard Medical School took 9
months to find my replacement.  And two months later, another person
is leaving the group, so there's a new opening.  Having gone through
the process of reviewing resumes a a few years ago, here's some hints:

- Be Honest.  If your experience with java is installing the JDK, I wouldn't
list it as something you know.
- Highlight skill sets.  But be honest (see above).
- Don't be afraid of making custom resumes for different employers.  You
can then get the attention of HR/manager since you're listing exactly what
they're looking for.
- Go get a copy of "What Color is Your Parachute".  Probably stresses the
above along with a bunch of other tactics that I've used successfully.

> > What I have seen and heard is that companies, particularly large
> > companies that are profitable, are still squeezing their current
> > employees to get more and more out of them.  This, combined with a
> > certain amount of offshoring, means that although the economy may be
> > recovering in total, the IT industry may not experience that growth.
> >
> > Also, while Linux is growing, a lot of the systems administrators
> > who used to do "Unix" are now doing "Linux" without much extra
> > training or inconvenience.
> 
> Agreed, I see a lot of places advertising for UNIX sysadmin positions,
> but mentioning that RHCE or experience with Fedora, or Debian a
> plus...  Many places are looking for Sun Solaris, HP-UX, and AIX
> people, but the job description will mention mostly Linux related
> work.
 
Linux is the 800 lb. gorilla, and a lot of places probably still have
remnants of other UNIX systems around.  If the employer asks, just project
some confidence and stress your UNIX skill set.  It's all just man
pages, right? ;)

> > Finally, we are starting to see students from high school and
> > college come out and enter into systems administration jobs at lower
> > salaries than some of the greybeards (me included).
> 
> Definitely agreed there.  IT/sysadmins are still considered a
> "necessay evil" by a lot of places.  They know they need these people,
> but refuse to admit they're worth paying a salary equal to or greater
> than that of a sw developer who works on a revenue generating project.

Depends on the employer, but yea.

> I've often likened being a sysadmin to being a janitor.  We're the
> people who, if we're doing our jobs, taking the trash out, washing the
> floors, and keeping the plumming from leaking and making loud noises,
> no one notices us nor can be bothered to recognize the contribution we
> make.  But as soon as the boss can't figure out he needs to have the
> wireless on to get his e-mail when he's not in his office, or the
> secretary can't figure out how to read a mail bounce error and thinks
> it's her messing up, we're indespensible, and we come running with our
> mop and bucket to clean up the mess.
 
That comes down to another point about interviewing:  You're interviewing
your potential manager and the company as whole.  If you get the vibe from
HR or the manager that IT staff are not treated well, then don't take a job
that will just make you miserable.  Unless you really do need to put
food on the table.

-Mark
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