Nalin Savara <nsn...@...> writes:

> Hi People,
> Time for the Naligator to surf right in.

[snip illuminating perspective by Nalin]

The crux of my question remains: RHCE guys should be good at
their stuff, seeing how probing the exams are.

But for some reason, none of the RHCE guys I interviewed about
half a year ago were people I would entrust to run the company
servers. I was even told the possibly apocryphal tale of Mary,
who when he was searching, would filter out the RHCE candidates
and chuck them in the bin. It was a relief when I managed to unearth
someone with the qualities of constant learning that you describe,
along with the required abilities and mindset.

So what was it that I was uncovering in interviews that were
putting me off and weren't coming out in the RHCE scores?

Damned if I can remember the details now and articulate it. I
think it was linked with the constant learning aspect and surprising
blanks in knowledge and ability. Something missing in the mindset
too, I think. Stuff that Nalin touched upon.

Looking at recent RHCE courses suggests improvements on the
broadness of knowledge and depth of ability testing. But I'd still
be searching in the interview for the existence of the right mindset
of the person.

How on earth do you quantify such a mindset? Beats me. I know
who has it in my colleagues and who hasn't. I think most of
us know it too, but wouldn't be sure how to quantify it. It is surely
possible though?

I suspect a lot of the time it isn't so much about knowing how
to tackle the problem as how you might tackle it from a position
of ignorance and follow a path that is solid. And considering the
long term benefit to the company.

Put like this, it is just basic innate problem solving ability,
but must include non-hardcore tech problem solving too. Neither
of these two would really be quantifiable by the RHCE in their
current incarnations AFAICS, but are a vital component of sysadmin.

Which is why the interviews I conducted were so vital.

Hmm. I seem to have done a reasonable job of articulating it
after all. Not a good job, mind you. Just somewhat better than
total drivel job and I think I'm on the right trail :-)

PJ



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