[geeks] [barf-bag required] $13 an hour for Unix geeks, spit...

[Nadine Miller]

Lionel Peterson wrote:
>> From: Nadine Miller <velociraptor at gmail.com>
>> Date: 2008/05/16 Fri PM 08:49:49 EDT
>> To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>> Subject: Re: [geeks] [barf-bag required] $13 an hour for Unix geeks, spit...
> 
> <snip $13/hr Solaris admin posting>
> 
>> They are looking for Jr. Sys Admins, but are trying to filter out the 
>> GUI psuedo geeks by putting in all that other stuff.
>>
>> Jr. Sys Admins working the phones at an Co-Lo in LV are running $15 an 
>> hour, so for a smaller town, I'm not surprised at all with $13/hr.  Note 
>> that it doesn't say anything about being on-call, so all this person is
>> going to be doing is handling cases kicked to them by the sorters when 
>> the sorters can't point the person to a FAQ.
> 
> That $15/hr job in Las Vegas does not sound like Jr. Admin, it sounds like Help Desk, and $15/hr is about right for that. Someone with backup, networking, system configuration, etc. as that posting was asking for is not a help desk person, that is a *real* Jr. Admin (can do the work, but has minimal exp. actually doing it - i.e. book smarts, dinking around with home systems, but no real measurable exp. on their resume IMHO).
> 
>> Think: password resets, checking to make sure the network problem really 
>> exists, etc.
> 
> Again, that sounds like Help Desk, not Jr. Admin. In my opinion (and understand I've *never* hired a Jr. Admin), a Jr. Admin works besides a more exp. Admin and brings to the job an interest in learning things and the ability to learn from a mentor and repeat tasks after they have been explained.

Help Desk and Jr. Admin are not necessarily mutually exclusive if the 
call volume is not sufficient to keep them at the phones 100% of the 
time.  In LV they work the phones, but they also build servers, rack 
gear, cable, etc. and resolve cases that they can resolve.

I agree that the CL listing was over written for a Help Desk or Jr. 
Admin, but I'd guess that's what they'll get.  They might be overwriting 
it in the hopes of having a "real admin" contacting them.  Often they do 
this as a way of fishing for more senior resumes without having to 
actually getting an actual avalanche of resumes.  Think about it--a more 
senior person would either have to be a) desperate, or b) extremely 
interested in working in this area to send in their resume on such an ad.

Also note that there is no "on call" mentioned.  This is why I think 
it's "jr admin"/"help desk", IMO.

=Nadine=