[Gllug] VACANCY: Linux Systems Administrator

[DL Neil]

On 25/03/12 02:14, Rob Crowther wrote:
> On 22/03/12 11:29, Robert . wrote:
>> It's a shame if it really is/goes that way. I do believe that an
>> education establishment is right for many fields and individuals in this
>> world, I wouldn't want to go see a self-taught doctor for example.
>
> An IT degree is useful for a grounding in underlying concepts, but for
> the majority of IT jobs a willingness to continue educating yourself is
> more important than the fact that you've received some education.

There's a difference between initial training and continuing education.

I would hesitate to take-on someone whose initial training relied upon 
his/her own efforts. At the same time, I recognise that such an 
individual has 'drive' which is likely a reason to put him/her back 'on' 
the list.

The problem is that when we don't know (about) something, we do not know 
what we do not know! As you (loyal reader) will be aware, I am not a 
SysAdmin type. I am self-taught in Linux (albeit with an extensive 
background and experience in IT, blah-blah - which for the purposes of 
this point is a bit of a 'cheat'). I know (and likely most of you) that 
there are great yawning holes/gaps - chasms and crevasses, in my Linux 
knowledge. This is because I have only learned that which seemed 
necessary in the moment - and for which I had the (spare) time. I had no 
idea if ignoring certain points was valid or if such a decision would 
come back to haunt me... (and periodically they do!)

So... would I hire me as a SysAdmin.
No!

There again, I used the term "experience" above. It is (also) widely 
bandied-about in the work-place and on job applications. However there 
are wide differences in what it means. Does "ten years" experience mean 
that the person learned some new skills in each of those ten years, or 
does it mean the he repeated the same skills learned in the first year 
ten times (or God-forbid, ...learned in the first month, 100+ times).

Turning it all around. How many organisations offer half-way decent 
training cycles and career progression/development plans? Not many! Even 
the HR luvvies in those companies know this. Whether they can take the 
next step in their own 'awareness' to realise that someone who has taken 
the initiative and drive to do something about his/her own progress, 
themselves, and in their own time - is quite another matter. Again, I 
like to see 'drive', 'initiative', ...

However we still have the issue of 'Fred' applying for a job which 
requires skills in (let's say) virtualisation. He lacks any work 
experience, excepting standard 'bare metal' but claims to be self-taught 
and running a KVM set-up on three old desktops at home.

What does this tell us about Fred?
Really tell us?
How much work do we need to expend to tell honest-Fred from CV-bloat-Fred?

I wonder if someone who has completed a recognised STRUCTURED course 
(argue what this might mean) would (all other things being equal) be 
better received than someone who has simply made-it-up as (s)he went 
along? Hence as the OpenU, et al, don't seem to be quite as detailed in 
their coverage, as we might like, we're sort of driven to the 
certifications, eg RHCE, etc. Indeed, might we be looking for shorter 
and possibly individual (but still 'recognised') courses rather than 
multi-course certificates?

(NB earlier poster's comment about weeding through a mass of CVs still 
applies!)

-- 
Regards,
=dn
--
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug