14 Jul
No Hire?
The secret startup I’m working for is hiring, and I’m looking to hire a sysadmin. The job posting is up at the Server Fault jobs board.
I’ve been shocked at the responses to the posting so far. In the weeks it’s been running, we’ve only gotten 2 (underqualified) applicants. At the same time, we have a posting running for a coder and it’s gotten 20+ quality applicants.
I’m wondering why: possibly sysadmin type people tend to be more conservative and don’t want to leave a job during uncertain times? Operations staff tend to be the last people laid off, so there may not be a surplus of SA’s out there. Possibly everyone’s on vacation? Or maybe my ad just sucks?
Looks like a good ad to me, and a good fit for my experience. The only thing that stops me personally from applying is that it’s probably 4000 miles from where I live…
July 15th, 2009 at 5:28 amCould it be the market in your area? I’m not familiar with Vancouver, but I just posted an offer for a junior admin in northeast NJ and I’ve received a glut of applications. Of course, they run the gamut from “Linux? Wasn’t he a boxer?” to someone who started working for their previous company in 1988. No joke.
July 15th, 2009 at 6:08 amTry over at lopsa.org and usenix.org; serverfault.com is a new resource, and not everyone may have discovered it yet. Usenix and Lopsa also sponsor local Unix/Sysadmin user groups, which usually have a job posting e-mail list or web page; there may or may not be one in your area. If there isn’t a local user group, make it part of the new hire’s responsibilities to organize one
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July 15th, 2009 at 6:43 amPerhaps it would help to use the words “system administrator” anywhere in the ad, if that is what you’re looking for. Think in terms of what the kind of people you want to hire will be looking for.
July 15th, 2009 at 6:44 amWhat Warren said. “Web operations admin” sounds like first-level support. Be more explicit in your desires — say that you are looking for a lead sysadmin with plenty of scripting and automation experience, preferably with your preferred Linux distro and your preferred infrastructure/configuration management system — or say that you want somebody who can build it all for you the right way, including helping to define what the right way is.
July 15th, 2009 at 7:08 amYeah, what Warren said. I have active job search filters running right now, and none of them would have hit your ad.
If you want a sysadmin, ask for a sysadmin instead of a fancy title that means nothing to anyone but you. Or at least require applicants have “a strong background in systems administration”.
As it is I’m in Ottawa and quite gainfully employed, or I’d shoot my resume your way just to see what the job is about.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:59 am