4 ms·

Blunt Network Administrator Job Posting

chpp 12y ago
As fun as that was to read, I would never apply. The type of person who is attracted to this position will be a very unique person, to say the least.
- j_baker 12y ago
  Perhaps that was the point. Someone may not want this job to be filled for whatever reason?
  - robertfw 12y ago
    I would say it was the point, but not for the shady reason you think. Rather, it ensures that people applying know what they are getting into immediately. Quite a good pre-filter.
    - vubuntu 12y ago
      It could be a job posting to satisfy the requirements of PERM (http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/perm.cfm http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/perm.cfm )
- falcolas 12y ago
  It's your typical IT position, just clearly defined. I have no intentions of applying (comfortable where I am, TYVM), but if I were looking for an IT position, I would not dismiss this one just for their honesty.
jboons 12y ago
Seems like this might be pretty effective. There are plenty of emotional robots out there that won't mind the stress levels and just want to constantly be useful.
- angry_octet 12y ago
  It could be written: Seeking admin who needs constant validation of their existence, with limited desire to improve the system maintainability, who will reinforce the idea that their job is a black art.
  - thaumaturgy 12y ago
    HN can make a gold nugget sound like a turd.
- VLM 12y ago
  I've worked positions like that, and a critical point not discussed in the ad is you've clearly got "X hours per day" and "X+10 hours of work to do" in that job role, so who prioritizes? If they trust you to prioritize your own task list, or at least cooperatively list it, its kinda fun and relaxing. "That task is boring" = "Uh, well, there's just no time sorry". On the other hand, If someone who only works "X/2 hours per day when he's not golfing" is micromanaging your every move and monday morning quarterbacking everything you did during the twice a week on average emergency at 2am while you were drunk (oddly enough, same employer, although a dramatically inferior manager), despite not having a technical background or any technical skills at all, and then complains you get into work five minutes late after being up all night while supposedly on salary, then that's not so good. I quit a job like that twice in my past.
networkguy 12y ago
I find the job posting to be completely unremarkable; they are essentially hiring a Consultant from a VAR (Value Added Reseller). It's pretty much what I do today, except I do it for many customers and my current VAR doesn't have me on a on-call rotation, though it wouldn't be remarkable if I was on a rotation or depending on the VAR, permanently on call. This is a dog whistle ad for consultants who maybe want to stop consulting independently or consultants who want to stop working for a VAR.
- thaumaturgy 12y ago
  I don't think you're wrong, I run a small MSP, I got the same sense you did.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
xenosapien 12y ago
I wonder how much a position like that pays.
- relaytheurgency 12y ago
  Barely enough to cover the medication required to keep your blood pressure at a healthy level. Luckily when you fall over face down in a balmy server room the people you need to save you are close by.
Linell 12y ago
When clicking the back button in Safari, Monster popped up an alert attempting to make me stay and subscribe. That's just not very nice.
- javert 12y ago
  Same in Firefox. Quite rude.
petercooper 12y ago
It struck me that there are many parallels in this posting with the realities of being a clinician at such a hospital.
pjungwir 12y ago
I thought this was actually quite well written: honest but not hyperbolic, and not glamorizing the hard work like you see in many ads ("must be passionate about widgets!"). No ping-pong tables or free lunches, and even a bit sheepish about the social activities---in contrast to semi-mandatory drinking sessions sold like a perk. My only complaint (albeit a big one) is that if they recognize the job is undesirable, they should be compensating accordingly, so that ad should have included a salary range and a range for the vacation days. Btw, a great book for surviving an environment like this is Time Management for System Administrators by Thomas Limoncelli. I'm not a sysadmin, but it has a lot of good advice for developers also.
Terr_ 12y ago
How much to you want to bet someone was told to hire their own replacement?
thaumaturgy 12y ago
What do you all figure a job like this should pay?
GoldenHomer 12y ago
Can't be worse than working in the Bay Area.

chpp 12y ago

As fun as that was to read, I would never apply. The type of person who is attracted to this position will be a very unique person, to say the least.

j_baker 12y ago
Perhaps that was the point. Someone may not want this job to be filled for whatever reason?
- robertfw 12y ago
  I would say it was the point, but not for the shady reason you think. Rather, it ensures that people applying know what they are getting into immediately. Quite a good pre-filter.
  - vubuntu 12y ago
    It could be a job posting to satisfy the requirements of PERM (http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/perm.cfm http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/perm.cfm )
falcolas 12y ago
It's your typical IT position, just clearly defined. I have no intentions of applying (comfortable where I am, TYVM), but if I were looking for an IT position, I would not dismiss this one just for their honesty.

jboons 12y ago

Seems like this might be pretty effective. There are plenty of emotional robots out there that won't mind the stress levels and just want to constantly be useful.

angry_octet 12y ago
It could be written: Seeking admin who needs constant validation of their existence, with limited desire to improve the system maintainability, who will reinforce the idea that their job is a black art.
- thaumaturgy 12y ago
  HN can make a gold nugget sound like a turd.
VLM 12y ago
I've worked positions like that, and a critical point not discussed in the ad is you've clearly got "X hours per day" and "X+10 hours of work to do" in that job role, so who prioritizes? If they trust you to prioritize your own task list, or at least cooperatively list it, its kinda fun and relaxing. "That task is boring" = "Uh, well, there's just no time sorry". On the other hand, If someone who only works "X/2 hours per day when he's not golfing" is micromanaging your every move and monday morning quarterbacking everything you did during the twice a week on average emergency at 2am while you were drunk (oddly enough, same employer, although a dramatically inferior manager), despite not having a technical background or any technical skills at all, and then complains you get into work five minutes late after being up all night while supposedly on salary, then that's not so good. I quit a job like that twice in my past.

networkguy 12y ago

I find the job posting to be completely unremarkable; they are essentially hiring a Consultant from a VAR (Value Added Reseller). It's pretty much what I do today, except I do it for many customers and my current VAR doesn't have me on a on-call rotation, though it wouldn't be remarkable if I was on a rotation or depending on the VAR, permanently on call. This is a dog whistle ad for consultants who maybe want to stop consulting independently or consultants who want to stop working for a VAR.

thaumaturgy 12y ago
I don't think you're wrong, I run a small MSP, I got the same sense you did.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

xenosapien 12y ago

I wonder how much a position like that pays.

relaytheurgency 12y ago
Barely enough to cover the medication required to keep your blood pressure at a healthy level. Luckily when you fall over face down in a balmy server room the people you need to save you are close by.

Linell 12y ago

When clicking the back button in Safari, Monster popped up an alert attempting to make me stay and subscribe. That's just not very nice.

javert 12y ago
Same in Firefox. Quite rude.

petercooper 12y ago

It struck me that there are many parallels in this posting with the realities of being a clinician at such a hospital.

pjungwir 12y ago

I thought this was actually quite well written: honest but not hyperbolic, and not glamorizing the hard work like you see in many ads ("must be passionate about widgets!"). No ping-pong tables or free lunches, and even a bit sheepish about the social activities---in contrast to semi-mandatory drinking sessions sold like a perk. My only complaint (albeit a big one) is that if they recognize the job is undesirable, they should be compensating accordingly, so that ad should have included a salary range and a range for the vacation days. Btw, a great book for surviving an environment like this is Time Management for System Administrators by Thomas Limoncelli. I'm not a sysadmin, but it has a lot of good advice for developers also.

Terr_ 12y ago

How much to you want to bet someone was told to hire their own replacement?

thaumaturgy 12y ago

What do you all figure a job like this should pay?

GoldenHomer 12y ago

Can't be worse than working in the Bay Area.