I wish this was true
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| caitlyn Aug 06, 2009 7:02 PM EDT |
I wish this was true but it just isn't where I live unless you're a developer. Linux sysadmins? None of the jobs are remote like this article implies, and most require a hefty list of other skills, usually commercial UNIX or Windows or programming or some mix of all of the above. Linux is usually a secondary skill in the market here, something you should have in addition to the primary skill, not what the employer wants most. I also find that the comment about wanting a ton of work for next to no money that Ms. Noyes quoted is very much the reality now. I see companies demanding advanced degrees, certifications, and 15+ years of experience offering $30K. The scary part is there must be some desperate people out there taking positions like that because the ads do disappear from the job boards, often surprisingly quickly. I will add that unemployment is already in excess of 12% in this area. I keep an eye on the market because, while I've been freelancing for three years now, I always wonder if I'd feel more secure with a regular guaranteed paycheck. I'm selective, of course, because I am not unemployed. Actually my billable hours and income have increased in each of the last four months and I'm doing reasonably well. The net result is that I am not finding much of anything suitable or interesting to me in what I still see as a very depressed market for IT help in general, including Linux help. I'd rather keep selling my consulting skills and supplement with a little paid writing here and there. Maybe it's different somewhere else. I'm not willing to pick up and move again to find out. |
| softwarejanitor Aug 06, 2009 7:23 PM EDT |
@caitlyn Linux sysadmins aren't a super hot skill here either. To be fair, no IT career is, the job market is simply abysmal and has been since 2001, and got worse again over the last year. For what it is worth, developers aren't much in demand either and salaries currently being offered are down to levels not seen since the mid 1990s. While I see some Windows only postings, you are correct that most employers are demanding both Linux and Windows experience, rarely do I see admin postings demanding only Linux and Linux specific developer jobs are only slightly more common than admin. For all tech jobs the requirements have been increasing and the salaries decreasing due to huge gluts of talent looking for work after the massive layoffs we've seen. If you are making enough to get by, I'd stick with what is working for you. I'm always watching the job market, but I've been in hibernation mode at the same place for almost 7 years now waiting for some sign of a thaw in the IT job market ice age. So far I've survived more than 50% downsizing in the office where I work, so I've been a lot luckier than a lot of people I know. |
| bigg Aug 06, 2009 7:35 PM EDT |
@caitlyn You're definitely doing the right thing so long as you can pay the bils. There's no way I'd go work for any company right now if I had the option of freelancing. Too much risk, especially with the potential for the economy to get worse. |
| herzeleid Aug 06, 2009 7:45 PM EDT |
@caitlyn - everything's relative. I was told by my manager that my job here was safe because of my linux skills, and the importance of linux to our strategic roadmap. (fortune 100 company). There were a number of windows and old school unix people who were let go, but no linux admins were let go. This is in the Los Angeles are - not the best Linux job market - that would be the bay area. |
| caitlyn Aug 06, 2009 9:00 PM EDT |
@herzeleid: I actually am not surprised that the picture is a little brighter in California and a lot brighter in the Bay Area. I'm on the other coast, in the South no less. Despite being the home of Red Hat the market for Linux here is dismal and always has been poor. I lived in the Bay Area in 1995-96 and in some ways it really was a much better place to live. It was also frightfully expensive, to the point that the higher salaries were no where near enough to match the cost of living. I ended up with much more disposable income when I moved back east. @bigg: I've mostly looked at government employment (or government contractors) as they seem to be the only ones hiring. That reduces the risk somewhat. I still haven't liked what's offered. Yes, I'm paying the bills and even just bought a newer car. I didn't buy a new car because I wouldn't take on financing even if I can qualify not knowing what my income will be next month or next year. |
| jdixon Aug 06, 2009 9:34 PM EDT |
> There were a number of windows and old school unix people who were let go, but no linux admins were let go. That seems kind of silly, as most Unix people can pick up Linux with little to no effort. Oh well... |
| gus3 Aug 06, 2009 9:51 PM EDT |
Quoting:most Unix people can pick up Linux with little to no effort.And whatever is lacking, can mostly be compensated for with Webmin. |
| caitlyn Aug 06, 2009 10:02 PM EDT |
I worked in a place where a Windows admin was let go because he absolutely refused to learn Linux. He was a bright guy with a solid knowledge of networking. He certainly had the ability to learn but when management decided that Linux was the corporate direction in the server room he fought it tooth and nail and did all he could to obstruct. Management gave him an ultimatum: the company way or the highway. He chose the highway. I've never understood why an otherwise bright guy would make a choice like that. |
| tuxchick Aug 06, 2009 10:36 PM EDT |
duh caitlyn, it's all about preserving and protecting one's precious bodily fluids. Or maybe he had an under-the-table deal at stake, that old shill for shillings thang. |
| caitlyn Aug 06, 2009 10:55 PM EDT |
Someone has seen Dr. Strangelove one or two times too many :) |
| gus3 Aug 07, 2009 7:48 AM EDT |
There's no such thing. |
| herzeleid Aug 07, 2009 2:33 PM EDT |
Quoting:most Unix people can pick up Linux with little to no effort.You would think so, but the motivation of the individual has a lot to do with it. Some of the old school hpux admins just seemed befuddled by the whole linux thing, while others jumped in and made sense of it fairly quickly. |
| phsolide Aug 07, 2009 4:27 PM EDT |
About linux as a desired skill: The last few times I've interviewed for a "linux job", it's always been a Windows job, where they need something ported from Linux, or maybe after the Windows "app" is done, a port to linux. One job supposedly was an "open source" job, but the Word "doc" job description demanded "software agnosticism". Don't know what that meant, but I suspect "We want something ported to Windows from Linux, and we don't want any arguments about how it already works fine under Linux." Also, I just had a look at my employer's (Immoral MegaCorp, Inc) "Approved Products List". *Everything* that had a high priced MSFT equivalent is Strictly Forbidden. They've been on an anti-FireFox crusade lately, and I can't really figure out why, but I'm guessing it has to do with the APL people getting a few rounds of Bikini Golf in the Bahamas if we only write webapps that absolutely, morally and philosophically MUST run on Internet Explorer. |
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