Here is the correct link for Adam's talk - https://www.usenix.org/conference/lisa10/path-senior-sysadmin
-- Debbie On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 9:35 PM, Deborah Wazir <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 8:41 PM, Edward Ned Harvey > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> > From: [email protected] [mailto:discuss- >> > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Martin James Gehrke >> > >> > I do try to grow professionally as a sysadmin on the younger side, but >> is >> this >> > something I should be worried about? >> >> I agree with the advice given so far; it is confirmed by my own > experience. I became a sysadmin in 1988 after spending a couple years as a > manufacturing engineer. I stuck with it over the years, while having 2 > children and moving several times for my husband's job. I've been laid off > twice. This has sometimes caused gaps in employment where I forgot most of > what I knew and had to learn it over again when I went back to work, plus > all the new skills. Now the internet and open source has made it possible > for me to maintain and develop tech skills between jobs. > > I told my husband he should think of my job as if I'm a musician, > sometimes I'll have a gig & sometimes not, so don't plan for a steady > income. But over the last several years I've gotten smarter about staying > ahead of the layoff curve. > > I figure, there are always jobs to be had, and there's going to be less > competition for the most advanced ones since there are fewer people able to > do them. So, I have to always be trying to learn more and take on the > kinds of responsibilities at work that are kind of outside my comfort zone. > It's tough, because I thought that when both my kids went to college I > would suddenly have the free time back that I had before kids; it hasn't > actually been that way, plus my current job is pretty demanding in itself. > But as time goes on, I feel like I'm on the right track, getting just that > much more ahead of the layoff curve. If you have that mindset from the > beginning, so much the better. > > You have to think of job security differently too. I never did develop > the courage to be a freelancer, but my idea of job security now is always > being able to find work when I need to, and I feel like I have that now. I > appreciate the concept of networking better now, too - before, when I left > a job, I didn't keep in touch with my coworkers, I don't really know why. > I never had a role model to demonstrate any other way, maybe. It is > getting easier with practice, and I'm pushing myself to find out when there > are technical meetups in my area, and I've even attended a couple so far. > I attended my first LISA conference last year, which was fantastic. > > When I was in college, one professor said a half-life of an engineer is 17 > years. That was around 1981. I think it is just a few years for > sysadmins. The bulk of the technical knowledge I've acquired in nearly 25 > years of Unix sysadmin work, is obsolete, strictly speaking. And some of > the "special" skills I picked up, would no longer be considered special, or > even interesting - like being good at setting up modems, or getting > documents off the internet using gopher or archie. As time goes on, you > just have to let go of that old stuff, and stay curious and excited about > the new stuff coming along that you can learn to do. I've found, in an > interview, it counts for a lot not to be afraid of being put into a role > where you don't already have the expertise, especially with a track record > of rapidly getting up to speed in new things. > > As you get into more "Senior Sysadmin" roles, there is so much more to it > than just technical skills. It's what we used to call soft skills, that we > looked down on and avoided - definitely I did, since I didn't want to get > pigeonholed doing clerical work. But if you can get good at that type of > thing, too - it can make you a more appealing candidate when you look for > work. See this talk by Adam Moscowitz here: > http://static.usenix.org/multimedia/lisa10moskowitz/ "The Path to Senior > Sysadmin", and this booklet by Mark Burgess and Carolyn Rowland > https://www.usenix.org/lisa/books/sysadmins-guide-navigating-business-world > . > > I still love this work, and the people I work with. It just keeps getting > more interesting! > > -- > Debbie Wazir > [email protected] > > -- Debbie Wazir Mobile: 248-231-2729 [email protected]
_______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
