[OT] - Job Hunting

L

LeshPhilling

First Post
Hi

A long-time lurker, I've seen a few people and threads that seem to lament the same situation I'm in presently--unemployed. So, I thought I might post something here in hopes that it may help me or others.

Having been unemployed since February, I've been told that one of the best ways of finding a new job is to "network"--get your name out "there", hit up friends, family, etc. for any kind of job lead. Who knows, maybe something will come from this post.

I am, primarily, a Unix Systems Administrator with 6+ years of experience. I'm very familiar with the OS internals of all the major flavours of Unix (HPUX, Digital Unix, Irix, AIX, Solaris, Linux, BSD), as well as all versions of Windows and even a smattering of OVMS internals. I am fluent in Perl, shell and CGI scripting and have maintained several websites.

At my last job, I also spent a great deal of time doing network administration for a 10/100Mbs switched network, 4 WAN links (T1), wireless network, dialup modem services, firewall (Raptor and Cisco Pix) with VPN and DMZ, Sendmail, Oracle, Apache web server and network services (TCP/IP, DNS, NIS, NFS, NTP, SMTP).

I have provided both phone and on-site support (as well as on-site training) for a number of very large companies. I have written technical documentation for both the novice and experienced computer user.

I am based in Raleigh, NC. If anyone knows of any open positions in the technical field, I would love to hear from you. Those of us who are hiring managers, please feel free to contact me directly at lesh_philling@hotmail.com.

If anyone else is currently unemployed and looking for work, please feel free to use this thread to "toot your horn". There are a lot of new d20 supplements being released that desperately need our money. :)

Thanks for reading!
 

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Hi

Thanks for the replies. Yup, I check Monster every day (along with my list of 51 other various jobsites). However, those of us who have been looking for awhile have noticed that most of the job listings in the technical field are from recruiters, staffing agencies, etc.

<RANT>
In the beginning, I was taken in by these staffing agencies, recruiters, etc. They posted dozens of very juicy ads that I was more than qualified for, all with excellent pay. However, they all followed the same formula:

--I email them regarding a job posting
--They call me immediately and talk gushingly about my skills, experience, etc. They assure me that they have dozens of potential jobs just waiting for me. We go through a standard 15 minute "interview" or "discussion" about what I can do, what I want, etc. After which, they ask me to give them a couple of minutes to get off the phone, round up their "pile" of "jobs" and they'll call me right back.
--After hanging up, I never hear a peep back from _any_ of them.

At first, I didn't understand the game. I thought perhaps they got busy or something, so I would call back and they would say they'll call me right back or, much more likely, I would get vmail. I would email them. I would get no response. Eventually I figured it out.

These "staffing" agencies and "recruiters" are just that--recruiters. They "recruit" resumes. That's it. All of the job postings from them are just bait. Those jobs, while at one time may have existed, do not at the time they post it. They just want to post ads that will attract people to send in their resumes. Then, the recruiters harvest all these resumes in the event that some day, an outside company will call them and ask them to help fill a position (for which they'll have hundreds, if not thousands of resumes waiting).

It's a freakin' scam. I no longer talk to, respond to or have anything to do with recruiting agencies. Most large companies do not use them anymore and I've never heard of anyone actually getting a job through them.
</RANT>

Sorry about that. When I clicked through to the Monster link I was reminded of this (almost all of the companies at the link you posted are "recruiters"--Manpower, Alphanumeric, CIBER, Judge Group, CDI, Sykes, Analysts, Matrix).

Anyhow, sorry to go off on a tangent there. Maybe it's just me. Has anyone had a good experience with a recruiter (after the dot-com bubble burst)?

Again, thanks for the pointer. Hopefully something will come along.

Zenon said:
Have you tried http://www.monster.com ?
35 UNIX IT job postings in your area:

http://jobsearch.monster.com/jobsearch.asp?re=11&sort=dt&pg=1&cy=US&brd=1&lid=516&fn=660&q=UNIX&vw=b

Hope you can find something!
Click to expand...
 

I had a networking experience today where I was the one being networked with.

A friend that I used to study Japanese karate under sent me an email with his resume attached, asking if I'd mind referring him for a particular job opening within my company that he'd found on (you guessed it) Monster.com.

Luckily my company isn't a BS recruiting agency, so I contacted HR, found out how to refer him, and had his resume sent right to the person in charge of hiring for that position, along with a few kind words about what a great guy he is.

Hopefully it will help him....well, and the employee referral payment I'd get wouldn't hurt either (what with the new baby and new house on the way).

So I finally got to see how networking can be useful from the inside.

-Skaros
 


I think Red Hat has an office in your area. Have you checked them out?

Recruiters are tricky. They see you as a resource, not a person. Once you can get past that everything is OK. I've had several positive experinces with them and several negative ones. I simply give them a polite call once a week when/if I'm looking.

Also, would you consider a move to Washington, DC? We have more openings up here. More recruiters too.
 

Ahhh!!! To move back to the NorthEast! I would love to. Both my wife and myself are originally from Philadelphia. We moved to the South a little over 5 years ago (specifically for the job I was laid off from in Feb.). We were hoping to move back to the Philly area this fall, but (un)fortunately, my wife's job took a very nice turn (financially speaking), so we're going to try and stick it out a bit longer down here.

It's both a smiley and a sad face, I'm afraid. :) :(

Oh yeah--yup I'm familiar with RedHat. I've been checking them out quite regularly (they're one of the 52 on my daily list).


BiggusGeekus said:
I think Red Hat has an office in your area. Have you checked them out?

Recruiters are tricky. They see you as a resource, not a person. Once you can get past that everything is OK. I've had several positive experinces with them and several negative ones. I simply give them a polite call once a week when/if I'm looking.

Also, would you consider a move to Washington, DC? We have more openings up here. More recruiters too.
Click to expand...
 



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