[aklug] Re: Putting Linux on a resume for an entry level job

From: Arthur Corliss <acorliss@nevaeh-linux.org>
Date: Tue May 10 2011 - 13:13:40 AKDT

On Tue, 10 May 2011, Tim Johnson wrote:

> When you write a resume, re-reading should make you blush, but not
> feel guilty. Nothing wrong with exaggerating, as long as you don't
> out-and-out *lie* and can deliver what you speak of.
>
> I would stress both my professional and avocational experience
> and draw parallels between them. I'm speaking as a programmer
> myself, but I have to say that the potential employer/client who
> is looking for a network tech or sysadmin is more interested in
> your system experience as opposed to coding. Having said that, in
> the linux environment I believe that most sysadmins would have
> experience with shell scripting.
>
> Time for Royce, Arthur, et. al. to take the podium.

<G> I don't think I have much to add. The outright lying on resumes has
become somewhat pandemic in the IT field, to the point that I don't believe
much of what I read anymore, including what all those certs are supposed to
verify. So, I have my own simple test on the fundamentals. You may or may
not be amazed at how many ten-year IT veterans with alphabet soup after
their name fail abysmally.

That said, if you didn't mention Linux on your resume at all I wouldn't even
bother asking for an interview, so it needs to be there. For those without
professional experience the best thing to show is participation in open
source projects. And this isn't limited to programmers, if you have a
favorite package work on the documentation, perhaps contribute some how-tos
for specific configuration scenarios. I'd personally find that very
valuable and telling for separating a mere casual user of Linux from a
worthy sys-admin or programmer candidate. Publically publish, and publish
often. Put your contributions on your resume.

You should also list participation in groups that could be considered
beneficial to your professional skills, and that would include AKLUG. Of
course, if all you've ever done is lurk it might not help as much. But if
you've been part of some educational threads -- on either side of the
equation -- that shows personal interest and willingness to learn.

Finally, if you've helped deploy Linux for other entities, even if it's just
a Samba server for your church, you've basically done independent
consulting. You've identified a need and provided a solution. It's worth
mentioning, especially if you know the solution is still in place and
providing value.

         --Arthur Corliss
           Live Free or Die
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Received on Tue May 10 13:13:49 2011

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