[geeks] RHCE advice

[Michael Parson]

On Tue, Jul 25, 2006 at 09:34:48AM -0400, velociraptor wrote:
> On 7/24/06, Michael Parson <mparson at bl.org>wrote:
>> Personally, I'd only list certifications on my resume if the job I was
>> applying for specifically asked for them, even then, I'd probably not
>> want to work for someone listing certifications as a requirement, just
>> like I don't send my resumes to gigs requiring a degree in the field,
>
> In my experience this line in the description is likely a formality
> tacked on by an HR person, so why would you choose to exclude
> yourself?  I do not have a degree in anything related to systems
> administration, and submit to jobs that indicate a "related" degree is
> required and still get interviewed/job offers.
>
> Heck, at one of the most degree-biased companies I've seen, I was able
> to convince them to hire two folks that didn't have any degrees *at
> all* as SA's.

It really all depends on who is doing the initial screening of the
resumes.  If it is all HR, you get dumped on the floor for not having
what they consider the minimum requirements.  If it is a recruiter
that understands the job, or better yet, the hiring manager for the
department, you might have a better chance.

It wasn't too long ago that around Austin, you would get 2-300 hundred
applications and resumes for any Unix sysadmin position.  For every 100
resumes I sent out, I would get called maybe 10% of the time.  For every
20 phone calls, I'd get 2 or 3 phone interviews, maybe 1 face-to-face.

Now it's been 3+ years since I've been heavily looking for a new job, so
I don't know what it's like out there today.  The market must be better,
since I get cold called at least once a week by random recruiters, most
of them want me to move somewhere else, which I'm not willing to do.

-- 
Michael Parson
mparson at bl.org