[TriLUG] hiring linux admins

[Matt Flyer via TriLUG]

(Not sent to the list).

Kolanthia,

As others have said, never underestimate your skills and their value to
a potential employer. I'll give you a personal example.  In the
position I am in now, my main job is as an electrical engineer.  I
spent a good portion of my early career doing embedded software
development and as a hobby and on the side, I have done some web
programming, primarily in PHP.  I am by no means a web programmer, but
I can kludge together a simple page and even connect to a SQL database
with it.  It may not be graphically elegant like most pages are today,
but it will work.

My current employer was looking for an electrical engineer, but really
wanted one who could also program PHP, though it wasn't part of the
official job description.  When asked about it, I gave an honest
assessment of my skill level. The fact that I could program in it at
all was a bonus as far as my potential boss was concerned. They thought
they wouldn't be able to find someone with that skill in the pool of
applicants.

Also, having XYZ certification is nice, but like most pieces of paper
it is just a license to start learning.

Matt 



On Fri, 2018-10-12 at 13:01 -0400, Kolanthia Gail Edmondson via TriLUG
wrote:
> Thanks to everyone for such encouraging and informative words. I
> really appreciate it.
> 
> Kolanthia Gail Edmondson
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> > 
> > On Oct 12, 2018, at 8:38 AM, John Vaughters via TriLUG <trilug at tril
> > ug.org> wrote:
> > 
> > Steve,
> > That is great advice. I came close to replying as well, but since I
> > didn't I will support your statements.
> > Condensed:
> > 1) Never let them see you sweat.2) Present your knowledge let
> > others decide.3) Do not apologize if you do not know you offended.
> > I have stories from my career that taught me all these rules as
> > well. Technical folk often underestimate their skills, and business
> > folk often prefer confidence and lack the understanding to sort
> > through what they perceive lack of confidence.
> > I will relay one story for item 3. In college I had a professor
> > that allowed appeal to grades on tests. It had to be in writing and
> > it had to present your case for why you felt you should get
> > additional credit. So I felt wronged on a test and made the effort.
> > In the writing I apologized over 10 times for making a mistake.
> > Technically I had a strong case. My professor felt soooooo strongly
> > about my need to apologize, he made a point to share with the class
> > why he rejected the plea, but not giving names. He stood in front
> > of a class of over 100 people and explained if you are trying to
> > convince somebody that you have a strong case, DO NOT apologize for
> > your mistakes in your case. And in this case over 10 times. He even
> > read some excerpts while shaking his head. "This is NOT how you
> > convince", he said. Oh the horror, even though nobody knew but me.
> > In fact, I doubt he even knew my face and name as he dealt with
> > over a thousand students every semester. Maybe he could see me
> > slinking in my seat, or my eyes wide opened in fear that he may
> > call my name. It makes you wonder what he thinks as he does these
> > things. He probably did this on purpose to help technical people
> > with resolution writing as this is clearly a common issue with
> > technical folk for the reasons you have outlined.
> > None the less, it was a great lesson and item 3 got checked. I
> > never did that again, EVER.
> > Items 1 & 2 took much more time an experience to understand and in
> > item 1 actually build the skill to master.
> > Thanks for Sharing Steve!
> > John Vaughters
> > 
> > 
> >    On Friday, October 12, 2018, 1:50:59 AM EDT, Steve Litt via
> > TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:  
> > 
> > On Tue, 9 Oct 2018 12:33:33 -0400
> > Kolanthia Gail Edmondson via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:
> > 
> > > 
> > > Daniel,
> > > 
> > > I am in desperate need of a job. My Unix skills are not as strong
> > > as
> > > they once were. I have applied. I would like to be in a setting
> > > like
> > > this where I can grow. My apologies if this goes to everyone. 
> > Kolanthia,
> > 
> > Please do me 3 favors...
> > 
> > 1) Never again say you're desperate for a job. I guarantee you that
> >   doesn't make you more desirable. If you're really desperate, just
> > be
> >   accommodating in salary negotiations, but don't tell anyone of
> > your
> >   desperation upfront.
> > 
> > 2) Never again say you're not strong on any skillset. What you
> > consider
> >   "not strong" might be considered "great, knowledgeable candidate"
> > by
> >   an employer. Let the employer make the determination of your
> >   strength. Don't forget, in the current economy, employers who
> > really
> >   want to fill a job cannot insist on 20 years of Javascript with
> >   Oracle and UMENU.
> > 
> > 3) Don't apologize for something and then do it anyway. Truth be
> > told,
> >   it would have been fine if it went to everyone, IF you had shown
> >   yourself in a better light. That way, hundreds of people would
> > have
> >   known you were available.
> > 
> > Everyone: If you need a Linux admin, give some consideration to
> > Kolanthia. She obviously needs to improve her job market networking
> > skills and improve her self-confidence, but that in no way means
> > she
> > wouldn't be a great Linux admin.
> > 
> > By the way, according to
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect , it's
> > entirely possible that she's actually quite skilled but, like many
> > skilled people, underestimates her qualifications.
> > 
> > 
> > SteveT
> > 
> > Steve Litt 
> > September 2018 featured book: Quit Joblessness: Start Your Own
> > Business
> > http://www.troubleshooters.com/startbiz
> > -- 
> > This message was sent to: John Vaughters <jvaughters04 at yahoo.com>
> > To unsubscribe, send a blank message to trilug-leave at trilug.org
> > from that address.
> > TriLUG mailing list : https://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilu
> > g
> > Unsubscribe or edit options on the web    : https://www.trilug.org/
> > mailman/options/trilug/jvaughters04%40yahoo.com
> > Welcome to TriLUG: https://trilug.org/welcome