[TriLUG] job opening at cerient

[Jason Tower]

and for all of you linux geeks who don't want to live in lenior...

the time has come once again for cerient technologies (http://cerient.net) 
to expand its labor pool - we're looking for a talented system administrator 
slash network geek slash linux hacker to join our somewhat non-traditional team.

if you're looking for a nice relaxing 9 to 5 job then stop reading right 
now.  if however, you're interested in working at a highly linux/open source 
focused company, then read on.  our client list includes everything from 
individuals with a single PC at home to hosting companies with an entire 
rack of servers.  just to illustrate the kind of things we do, here are some 
of the projects that we're actively working on right now:

- ltsp server also running vmware so thin clients can access both a linux 
and windows desktop simultaneously
- multi server, high availability solution for apache, mysql, and openvpn 
services
- asterisk server installation with both hard and soft phones (~100 extensions)
- invisible firewall/traffic shaping device to handle individual ip 
addresses on a /26 public subnet
- wide range wifi solution with multiple interconnected access points (using 
linux based wrt54g)
- linux based backup strategy for linux/osx/windows workstations and servers
- multi interface openbsd firewall with invisible proxy service (url 
whitelist) for specified hosts

and so on.  if you really enjoy working on open source software and want to 
see your solutions in the real world we'll give you plenty of opportunities 
to make it happen.  here are some of the pros of working at cerient:

- work from home = no daily commute.  you gotta like that.  you'll have to 
travel to client sites several times a week but rarely during rush hour.
- flexible hours (i don't drag my butt out of bed until at least 9am most days).
- lots of cool hardware to play with.  we like toys, the more blinkenlights 
the better.
- shockingly little bureaucracy, red tape, or office politics.
- distinct possibility of a "senior" or "vice president" title, impress your 
friends and family who never thought you'd amount to anything.

of course we're still a small company so it's not all peaches and cream:

- no health insurance, 401(k), or other "big company" benefits (at least, 
not yet).
- unpredictable workload (might be very light one week, very heavy the 
next).  late nights not that uncommon either.
- customer says jump, you say how high.  even at 2am.  on sunday.  christmas 
sunday.  and you're hung over.
- difficult to blame problems on other employees (in fact we'll probably 
blame a lot of stuff on you).
- no opportunity to steal office supplies.

so what kind of person are we looking for?  since we have such a wide 
variety of clients and technologies that we support, the ideal candidate 
would fit the jack-of-all-trades mold.  specifically though, we're looking 
for the following:

- reasonably proficient with windows (as a desktop, not a server.  like it 
or not, we still gotta support it.)
- solid networking expertise.  not just ok skills, very good skills.
- proven and demonstratable system administration skills.  you'll be 
directly responsible for the care and feeding of lots of servers doing lots 
of things, and failure is not an option.
- the ability to learn new technologies on the fly and adapt to different 
environments.  i assure you that boredom is not going to be a problem.
- most importantly, and i can't stress this enough, strong customer service 
skills.  "that's not my job" or "i can't help you with that" are not phrases 
that we use.

i'll also tell you what we *don't* care about:

- what kind of degree you have, or even if you have a degree.
- a bunch of industry certs proclaiming how amazing your IT skills are.
- the fact that you've worked at a fortune 500 company.
- how long you've been (or not been) in the IT industry.

i think its fair to say that it will be unlike any job you've ever had. 
this ain't IBM or GSK, and it sure as hell isn't a gov't job.  we have 
(mostly) cool clients, interesting work, and a passion for open source software.

if you'd like to apply, the next step is simple: convince me you're the 
right person for cerient.  sell me on yourself.  surprise me.  demonstrate 
that you have what it takes to perform in a non-traditional setting.

jason tower
cerient technologies
jtower at cerient.net

ps - any and all .doc files sent to me will be promptly directed to /dev/null.