Luke S Crawford wrote: > [email protected]:
>>also, if whatever standard is created would mean that a large portion of >>the senior people in the field are not 'qualified' (and for most >>proposals, would never have become qualified), that standard starts off in >>a _very_ bad position. > I think this is quite insightful. Me too, but read on... > I've got about 14 years of paid SysAdmin experience... > Anyhow, I think I have something of a defensible claim to the > 'Senior SysAdmin' title. If nothing else, people seem to be > repeatably willing to pay me for it. However, I've got nothing resembling > a formal education. This is not, as far as I can tell, unusual. Back when I was in a position to hire (I've been retired for 3+ years now), if we were looking for someone to do system administration, a degree counted against, not for, the person we were looking at. It was felt that the type of person who had a degree would not stick with the day-to-day work that a good administrator does, and would only be looking for an SA job while between other jobs that they actually wanted to do. In my experience hiring people with degrees to do system administration work, this was usually borne out. There is something about system administration that almost demands on the job learning, rather than a formal education, and while there are plenty of people in the field who *have* degrees and are well known in the field, they often do multiple things that one would be hard-pressed to classify as system administration. > Getting me to spend another 4+ years in school, though, that would > require significant encouragement. (and thus, for your test to > seem worth it to employers, those who pass your test need to be better > than people like me. Not impossible, but it's setting the bar, > perhaps higher than you intend.) I don't think the correct word is "better" here. I disagree, strongly, that it's something you can teach in school. The very best system administrators I've known over the years have always had strong mentors. I've known some with advanced degrees (even a couple of PhD folks), and I've known at least one who had not finished high school. I can't always tell you what to look for, but I know them when I see them (and my hiring choices turned out 100%). I've done SA stuff in life, but I don't consider myself one. Sometimes you have to wear multiple hats just to get the job done. Although I'd have been gravely insulted to be called a manager while I was still working, during the last five years I worked, I mostly managed other people (and I was good at it). System Administrators are some of the most important staff members you can have, but it just seems to be a calling, rather than a formal framework. -- I like mathematics because it is not human and has nothing particular to do with this planet or with the whole accidental universe - because, like Spinoza's God, it won't love us in return. (Bertrand Russell) _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
