Nice Artcile Joshua.
-- Robert delos Santos AGB Philippines http://www.agb.com.ph ---- "Joshua San Juan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > A bit off-topic but I hope that the systems/network > administrators out there will find this article a bit > enlightening :-) > > > - joshua > > > >UNIX SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION --- December 12, 2001 > >Published by ITworld.com -- changing the way you view IT > >http://www.itworld.com/newsletters > > > >HIGHLIGHTS > > > >* A system administrator's job may appear monotonous on the surface, > > but closer inspection will reveal many appealing rewards to the > path > > you've chosen. > > > > > >Staying Happy > >By Sandra Henry-Stocker > > > >A number of systems administrators that I know are finding it very > hard > >in these times of layoffs and cautious business plans to even imagine > >what they, in better economic times, had come to expect in terms of > >personal fulfillment on the job. Some only remember that their career > >goals used to be a lot more aggressive than simply staying employed. > >Others notice that their employers or bosses, who might have once > gone > >out of their way to ensure that their employees were busy and satisfied > >with their work, are now preoccupied with the larger issue of staying > >afloat. All this at a time when, because of the shift in national > and > >personal priorities, many of us are looking for a deeper connection > to > >the things that bring value to our lives. > > > >While it may be true that a large percentage of the population is > >looking for meaning in their daily lives, it is probably more true > of > >systems administrators than most computer professionals that finding > >happiness on the job is a challenge. Part of the challenge comes with > >the profession itself. Systems administrators are afflicted with > >several specific stresses. It is how they decide to react to these > >stresses that determines whether they are fulfilled or simply > >frustrated. > > > >One of the difficulties that systems administration face is that they > >tend to be at the beck and call of everybody. There are very few > >positions in the typical company that offer so little protection from > >the impatient, the demanding, and the annoyed. To make matters worse, > >and as some of the more vocal of our crowd have often complained, > it is > >when you do your job best that you are least noticed and least > >appreciated. > > > >It's also true that systems administrators are seldom in the mainstream > >of their company's business. For this reason, it's nearly impossible > >for them to garner satisfaction from a sense that they've contributed > >to their company's success or to its customer's satisfaction. When > they > >work long hours, they're generally doing things that no one else really > >understands or finds interesting. It may take them half the night > to > >discover that a memory problem on a server has been interfering with > >the running of some important job -- and about all the troubleshooting > >skills that they can muster. Then, when at the staff meeting the > >solution is reduced to "John fixed a memory problem on server B", > it > >sounds like something that could have been fixed in five minutes and > by > >anyone off the street. > > > >Systems administrators also suffer from extreme fluctuations in their > >work flow. At times, we're so busy that a phone call from one troubled > >user is been interrupted by several others. At other times, we find > >ourselves searching for something to fix or improve ? something to > hold > >our interest for a while -- in an intellectual ? desert of "nothing's > >broken". > > > >Sometimes we work alone and have no one to bounce our ideas against > and > >no one to acknowledge the small miracles that we pull off. At other > >times, we work in groups and find ourselves assigned to so narrow > a > >slice of the pie that we could fear we could easily automate ourselves > >out of a job. > > > >After ten or twenty years of adding to our skill set, we often remain > >at the bottom of the organizational structure. > > > >Given these deep and abiding challenges, a career in systems > >administration might not seem to have much appeal. There are, however, > >numerous arguments that we can make in arguing for our choices and > >numerous ways that we can derive reward from our work whether or not > >our organizations choose to understand and appreciate our contributions. > > > >One of the benefits of being a systems administrator is that we have > a > >good degree of job mobility. Almost any organization needs some of > us > >to keep their systems in line. Irrespective of the particular industry > >that we work in, the required skills are pretty much the same. > > > >There are also a lot of sub-specialties that we can delve into as > we > >advance and need more challenge. These include networking, security, > >and various types of programming. > > > >Though our numbers at any particular company or site may be small, > we > >have a large representation nationally and internationally - even > >organizations like SAGE that focus on our work and our concerns. We > can > >reap a certain reward from doing our work well and making good > >decisions as there are many standards that we can measure ourselves > >against that are well represented in books and online. > > > >Perhaps, best of all, we have the satisfaction of an ever-changing > >technology. For "sysadmins", there is always something new to learn > and > >always some problem that we have never seen before to keep us on our > >toes. > > > > >About the author(s) > >------------------- > >Sandra Henry-Stocker (a.k.a S. Lee Henry) has administered Unix systems > >for over 17 years. In fact, she describes herself as "USL" (Unix as > a > >second language) and barely remembers enough English to write books > and > >buy groceries. She currently works for TeleCommunications Systems, > a > >wireless technology company in Annapolis, MD. > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Join the world�s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. > http://www.hotmail.com > > _ > Philippine Linux Users Group. 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