getting a job that is UNIX/Linux related for newbies
 

Hey all,

Why does it seem now a days that getting a job that has UNIX/Linux related for newbies impossible. I would love to do some sys admin. work or related field but I just graduated and I only have so much experience with them professionally...

I just feel that giving a new grad a job is somewhat of a charity in these economic times and even worse is a technical job for those who are so eager to learn!

What do you guys think?

I think this explanation should help you.. (Assuming you live on Earth, and particularly in America.)


Lowball unemployment statistics are around 10%.
Around 10% of around 300,000,000 people is around 30,000,000 people.
Of these 30,000,000 people, how many do you suppose are crackheads that were unemployed before anyone cared?

Similarly, how many are graduates like yourself?
What kind of jobs are all of these people looking for?
How many of these people have the ability to BS a resume beyond reason?
How many of these people don't need to BS a resume, because their resume is so well formed, from years of experience doing exactly what you want to do?


I can't answer all of those questions, but I suspect that the jobs people are looking for are any and all jobs, the number of grads grows each year, and the grads I know are broke as hell and doing whatever just to get by realistically.. NEVERMIND the school loans, outstanding tickets, and the rest of that nonsense that is too far in the future to worry about now.. I mean, sheesh.. 1 month, that's like 10 years...(to them)


SO, what does that mean for you (and me)?

People who own businesses that aren't dying are hiring. Walmart, franchises, etc..
People who own businesses that ARE dying, aren't hiring.. Everything else, etc.

(OR, if they do, it's one of the hundreds of thousands of people who are qualified enough to get the position without having to be paid too much.)

The only real success I've seen for myself is through my own BS little under-the-table business running cable after my initial cable contractor position went tits up, and all the alternatives were doing the same...


ETA - Employer's aren't looking to keep their business going 25 years from now.. They're looking to survive 2010, and that doesn't work well with trainees that may or may not be worth a darn. This may or may not work out well.. One can never be too sure.

Sometimes you have to target a company that does the kind of work you want to do, and then start **anywhere**. My older son started in the shipping department in the local Apple dealer. In ~ 2 years he was doing systems engineering work. Now he administers database systems for an IT support company.

Well, but the problem is all those years of non technical work you put in end up working against you and it ends up taking longer to reach company's ultimate "5 years experience" they all cry for...

Have any of you been able to justify self taught technologies to companies. Many of my technical experience has been self taught up to the maximum I can do given my capabilities (money, size of implementations, time etc...) but unfortunately I did not all those techs. in a professional work setting

Yes, that was a large part of how I got my first IT job, after many years of working in social care. I did a few courses, and I had found ways to work some IT into a non-IT related job (creating a database to collate statistical info on referrals, supporting colleagues in the use of IT), but I had no obvious professional experience.

The best advice I can give to you is, apply for any job that will help you get the experience. Don't let yourself be put off by requirements that you can't clearly meet - find a way to argue that you do meet them. And don't stick to looking at IT companies - all sort of organisations need IT staff.

My first IT job was with the local library service, doing some support and very basic sysadmin stuff. I am now working for the company that supplied the library's main computer system doing Solaris and Sybase admin, in a role that offers many more opportunities.

I find it phenomenal that such a group of individuals do as I do..

That's my current "strategy", and the OP shares my style of education..
I don't have a lot of $$, and the stuff I've learned in college is mostly about how bad the college is, the rest of the material I learned before I took the class. I'd consider myself well versed in most subjects I'm interested in, or at the very least, my mind is ultra-prepped to learn whatever it is I need to. The deal is, none of the attempts at explaining my expertise has gone anywhere.

Perhaps some guidance would be in order..

My current thinking is that I'll need to replicate the situation Giotto found himself in, infront of the pope. Perfect circles and all of that.

Sometimes it's who you know... If you have the experience, set up some kind of portfolio (in the case of sys, admin it may be just a web site of tutorials written by you and some scripts etc.) Then start networking. I know of some people that met with success getting a name from HR, or even Receptionist, of some people 'on the inside' in their target department by simply walking into the building and asking questions.

Aside from that, Try a local news station! Especially if you have experience dealing with hardware and or want to learn about broadcast technologies to try and wiggle into Engineering.