To clarify, I don't feel positions I've applied for where bad matches in the past. All have been valuable experiences and I feel the local market has high-value consulting and career opportunities where there is a good level of competence both by employer and hires. However could this process be stream-lined to ensure the maximum common gain, business benefit and targeted career satisfaction? I know one interview I attended for a company I did not get hired at a while back had a huge amount of Cisco questions in their test. This was quite helpful, as I don't want to get on to a job with expectations for IOS guru where I've been primarily netfilter/PF and/or iptables. Just don't put me in a PROD environment and ask me to type IOS commands, because I don't do Cisco and perhaps will not use IOS for a long time, even though there are now embedded network switches in various virtualization products. To me, vendor neutrality is important, so I wouldn't mind if such "all-in-one" solutions, offered modules for other network equipment vendors. For instance, what if in an all HP shop, a new virtualization infrastructure calls for an embedded switch to service virtualized infrastructure? I would say then that you should be able to use your existing investment in HP switches, or Juniper, rather than have to make it all the same vendor. This is where network devices built on Linux excel, they can provide a NOS which allows multiple firewall solutions including now even PF! Michael Lewis had a syndicated article which showed how Cisco products where not delivering and simple PF-band-width shaper fixed-up the deal overnight for a application service provider. That is an excellent story for vendors of Linux-based network equipment as ip-tables and PF firewalls can be very strong-provided they have the appropriate optimizations and management interface. So soon, people who know Linux firewalls could be implementing complex network rules for the Enterprise / data-centre market. That would be nice. I think the idea of an Open Source Nexus compatible software switch would really make certain Linux based Virtualization solutions fit-in to the market. Personally, I have not investigated this area, but would think it nice to see interop between vendors of switching gear in this area as well as in routing standards. The key is not to upset a certain powerful vendor of network gear manuf. or to infringe on existing patents. The Internet is good at solving such standards development challenges. It will be a sigh of relief for peoples careers to when they don't have to learn 16-vendors of different network gear, but can stick with their existing training. - AF On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 5:29 PM, Allan Fields <allan [ dot ] fields [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com> wrote: >> I think we would have to comply with the terms and conditions >> of such web sites > > I agree. My original email was intended to suggest simply, that jobs > which are located by members and found of interest to the group, could > be further advertised here on the OCLUG board, rather than by feed > aggregation. > >> I'd be surprised if they allowed for automated >> retrieval like this, however nice it might be to get this info >> in concise, advert-less form. > > I think the idea of advert-less listings, differentiates the OCLUG job > list in terms of semantic purity of the content. The listings contain > only that information which was deemed applicable to local job > opportunities having been presented to the group, rather than "search > results", for example based on the keyword 'Linux'. > > I have seen such "meta-job boards" out in the wild. However, the > fundamental question is one of semantics, do external job listings > belong in a group-specific feed? In the past, I think I have seen > similar listings across multiple boards, but that doesn't necessarily > mean they will all have been listed in common to OCLUG. This is where > the group and membership add value, in making classifications and > recommendations, technical or otherwise that are cardinal to the > subject matter, rather than simply related to Linux. > > Rather than pollute the original intent of the job listings here > (which might have already undergone review), perhaps there should be a > second category. If people here don't really care that much and would > like to see contributed posts which link back to the origin job site, > then the click-through is similar to a search engine sending people to > the original listing with adverts included. > > > While the existing infrastructure is already working the way it is, I > always have these futuristic ideas: > > One of the points listed in the original ticket was specifying > skillsets for members (as volunteered, so that they claim certain > skills) - so if that is done in free-form text so be it. But if XML > was applied, perhaps individuals could be auto-matched to positions > based on the SAGE/admin category they belong in, or have tested > against through some sort of "skill-testing question sets". > > This could at their option be extracted from the LPI test they take > and anonymized so that no-one feels left-out, but it could apply to > vocation-specific topics such as "Oracle installs", "Drupal" or > "volume management", "linux firewall" and made so that the group could > help qualify members for recruitment using confusion-proof aptitude > tests. Because I am not an HR/corp/testing guy, I will leave it for > keener to figure out how to maximize the Linux/admin resource pool. > On a personal level, I still have certifications to obtain, but might > qualify for a lot more than I am currently certified for, once I take > the tests. > > In certain cases, the worst possible outcome in applying for a > position is for someone to consider you knowledgable in something you > are not or vice-versa, though it would be nice to not have candidates > shot down but rather provided a chance to obtain specific skills, such > as GFS clustering or Linux RAID. These are all excellent examples of > things that are transferrable knowledge, that generous people could > share or that could make courses. Some of the local training > companies already provide RedHat certified courses for these topics, > but what about more general tools and specific Open Source products > which are good topics for future meetings? Perhaps there is a way to > gage the level of understanding to enable local talent to move toward > specific goals, or be recognized by all the staffing/recruiter types. > Keywords on job-boards is good, but not always concise, even if you > strive to present yourself in an honest fashion. > > For instance, I know nothing of Oracle Clustering, but some resources > are able to deliver on their previous experience or vocational > training. Because my resume mentions Oracle as something I've done on > a previous job, a recruiter may think I am a good resource to present. > for a large Oracle install. While such could present opportunities > for those looking to branch-out in their career and they will likely > excel on the job when hired, I don't like to mis-represent my > expertise. It would make me nervous to be responsible for an Oracle > cluster when my I don't have formal training and I am primarily a > PostgreSQL/mysql guy. > > Think Geekcode for Linux (troving): > A simple Wiki entry could put keywords for topics-of-interest for > members here. After-all, a local group such as this is already needs > met with site that doesn't cost a lot in terms of additional > HR-centric effort, but a big job board probably has all that schema > hidden some-where behind the web-based listings these days. Most > likely, people will just show up to the events and the presentations > they are interested in and apply for positions they feel match their > skillset. This is the current state-of-the art in job search - a very > organic process. Networking and business seem to remain a human > function. > > > Thanks, > Allan Fields > Ottawa, On > > In some ways you gotta feel sorry for the single man or entity who > filters a regions worth of information, and can only speak noise in > various combinations and permutations. While some valid information > will undoubtedly remain in the channel: This is what in system-antics > we call "regulator overflow and fault-back", when the best efforts in > avoidance of noise have not guaranteed the channel remains free from > interference. However, even a "retrograded regulator" can surprise > with interesting results and potentially useful information in the > specific outcomes. > > > On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 12:00 PM, <linux-request [ at ] lists [ dot ] oclug [ dot ] on [ dot ] ca> wrote: >> >> Date: Wed, 25 May 2011 15:52:20 -0400 >> From: "Brenda J. Butler" <bjb [ at ] sourcerer [ dot ] ca> >> Subject: Re: [OCLUG-Tech] OCLUG Job Contribs? >> To: linux [ at ] lists [ dot ] oclug [ dot ] on [ dot ] ca >> Message-ID: <20110525195220 [ dot ] GF19275 [ at ] sourcerer [ dot ] ca> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >> >> On Wed, May 25, 2011 at 03:02:29PM -0400, Allan Fields wrote: >>> I was >>> wondering if you accept (secondary) submissions from external job >>> boards, or prefer first-hand job posts provided directly by companies >>> who are aware of OCLUG or from members who promote their openings? >> ... >>> For instance: >> ... >>> Listings like the above from Monster, >> >> I think we would have to comply with the terms and conditions >> of such web sites, I'd be surprised if they allowed for automated >> retrieval like this, however nice it might be to get this info >> in concise, advert-less form. >> >> bjb >> >