[PLUG] Local resources for finding Linux/Unix/OS jobs?

Paul Heinlein heinlein at attbi.com
Fri Aug 2 03:44:19 UTC 2002


On Thu, 1 Aug 2002, Jason Dagit wrote:

> Since you didn't have a CS degree you were a gamble I'm guessing.  
> And I bet you were a pay off.  But I'm willing to bet that on
> average, non-degree people doing what you do (whatever that may be)
> don't pay off.

I'm sure that there are some sectors of the high-tech employment 
market where what you say is at least arguably true.

OTOH, in my field -- system administration -- there seem to me to be
relatively few folks academically trained in computer science or
engineering. Of the dozen or so sysadmins who've been my colleagues
since I moved here to Oregon, only one has had a CS degree.

I realize the plural of "anecdote" isn't "data," but similar 
discussions here on PLUG lead me to believe that other IT folks come 
from similarly dissimilar backgrounds.

I'd guess it's no different in other industries where there's a real 
distinction between design and implementation:

* how many automotive engineers are you likely to find in the local 
  repair garage?

* how many structural engineers or architects do you find wielding 
  tools on construction sites?

* how many trained mathematicians work as accountants?

There seems to be a continuum in each of these fields, just as in 
computers:

  Theoretical Research <-> Engineering <-> Construction/Maintenance

As you move further to the right you are on that continuum, the less 
you'll encounter formal academic training and the more you'll find 
people trained on the job.

Frankly, I have a feeling that has nothing to do with the quality (or 
lack thereof) of our educational system, and almost everything to do 
with the people drawn to those fields and the sort of tasks they do.

Just look at how indifferent many (perhaps most) sysadmins are to
getting formal certification. Having an MSCE is almost a joke. Why?
Because you'd rather have a sysadmin with loads of on-the-job
experience than some guy with a newly minted certificate.

Here are some problems a sysadmin might encounter in any given day:

* a machine is stuck at the boot loader and won't go further
* the CEO complains that application X causes application Y to crash
* a new mail server needs to be brought online
* Jim Bob in accounting lost a file
* the network is dropping a larger-than-normal percentage of packets
* OpenSSL needs patching on a variety of machines :-(

Speaking as a person with two (non-CS) Master's degrees, and meaning
absolutely no disrespect to academic CS departments, let me ask you:
Have your classes taught you how to deal with these things? Would you 
want them to?

--Paul Heinlein <heinlein at attbi.com>





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