Re: [tlug] Whats it like being a sys admin? (This rambles a bit.)

[Josh Glover <jmglov@example.com>]

Quoth nmacphee (Fri 2002-10-18 11:22:15PM +0900):
> 
> I don't know much about that kind of job but I imagine that it is well paid, 
> that staff are highly in demand, that the work is enjoyable and colleagues 
> good people. (I notice that at least one person is working in biotech and 
> that would be a very motivating thing to do, I would think.)

I guess I am the biotech guy you mention? ;)

Being a sysadmin is hard work. Good sysadmins are paid reasonably well, though
we historically make less than coders (this is changing, as languages like
Java and Python make writing code a much less daunting task, and the number
of CS degree-holding people is increasing greatly).

Most long-haul sysadmins tend to turn into BOFHs (check the jargon file if you
do not know the acronym) and develop a near-maniacal hatred for their users.

Now, as for the job situation... in my personal experience, there are two
kinds of sysadmins that do not have jobs:

1) Those who sodding do not deserve to have a job, and
2) Those who are unable (or unwilling) to re-locate.

What this economy is doing to the high-tech industry is not entirely bad.
Lots of people are being laid off now, but, in general, the smart people are
able to find another job. The not-so-smart are usually not-so-lucky. So, the
net effect is that the fittest are surviving.

No offence if anyone reading this is out of work. I am making this statement
based on my own (limited, I am still a Grasshopper) experience.


-- 
Josh Glover <jmglov@example.com>

Associate Systems Administrator
INCOGEN, Inc.
http://www.incogen.com/

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