|
MC Fruit Stripe posted:During my last round of interviews, I went in and had a one-on-one for about an hour. It went well. I got a call later that day saying that they'd like me to come back and take computer based skills tests. How long will that take? Approximately five hours. Seriously? That would have to one great job to get me to take a 5 hour test for them.
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 02:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 11:05 |
|
|
Count Sacula posted:You said it perfectly. He had an air of sneering neckbeard type about him so your description is pretty accurate. I can't provide any insight into penis size though, it wasn't that sort of video conference. Thanks Ants fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Nov 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 02:25
|
|
|
Count Sacula posted:Being a good interview-ER is just as hard as being a good interviewee. This is why I maintain my last job interview was the best. Me, my prospective boss, and the CEO were drunk off our asses.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 04:08
|
|
|
The Third Man posted:Yeah, the position description for this is basically hardware support, HVAC systems, documentation, cable termination, inventorying, etc. There's certainly no harm in throwing my resume at them and asking during the interview, I was just curious what other folks' thoughts were. The "data center specific software" could include monitoring tools like SCOM/Nagios/Cacti, and they're good to know. It would be better if the job also included some basic system administration. Stuff like "You racked this server, now install the base OS and someone else will do the rest from there" or "You've cabled this server into this switch, now make sure that switchport is the correct VLAN". Datacenter work is fun in a "crawling around and climbing ladders" sense. Now in my current job all my servers are virtualised and living on a different continent to me. Sometimes you just wanna take a break and tidy some cables =/ But you should definitely check it out, NOCs are neat.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 04:19
|
|
|
I'm learning that the SMB market share is as a broad term as that of "cloud computing".
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 07:59
|
|
|
MC Fruit Stripe posted:During my last round of interviews, I went in and had a one-on-one for about an hour. It went well. I got a call later that day saying that they'd like me to come back and take computer based skills tests. How long will that take? Approximately five hours. Seriously? Five hours? Is this some Endres Game type thing, where once you're done a curtain raises and you've fixed all their poo poo for them and some dudes start clapping? I've only had one job where they had me take a skills test in advance, and in shocking news, it turned out to be my worst job.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 10:58
|
|
|
The only nonverbal test I ever had to take was at an HR firm that scouted executive talent for huge corporations, and they issued me the talent test with no warning. I had 60 seconds timed per question to answer an hour's worth of extremely difficult math/logic/language problems, then had to spend two hours doing thematic aptitude testing, where I wrote five or six 300-word stories based on pictures of people doing things. I was interviewing for a temp job supporting a database 
Roargasm fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Nov 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 16:32
|
|
|
Any job interview over an hour really speaks of what kind of hours they'd expect you to actually work. In your case, 100+ a week.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 16:39
|
|
|
Alfajor posted:Any job interview over an hour really speaks of what kind of hours they'd expect you to actually work. In your case, 100+ a week.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 16:45
|
|
|
Alfajor posted:Any job interview over an hour really speaks of what kind of hours they'd expect you to actually work. In your case, 100+ a week. I had the most stupid masquerade of an interview at Sophos (several years ago). A bunch of us had to do stupid group tasks, then sit in a room filling out a form, we finally had an interview.. that thing was a several hour affair of tedium. I'm glad I didn't get to work there in the end anyway.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 17:39
|
|
|
Misogynist posted:This is like the hiring analog to Conway's Law. I like it. Can we get a list of these awesome management/organizational laws and postulates like The Peter Principal and Parkinson's Law of Triviality?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 18:56
|
|
|
This is a good start http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eponymous_laws
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 19:04
|
|
|
Caged posted:This is a good start Some of those are pretty interesting, but let's be honest: could you really reference one of those in real life without coming across like the blowhard know-it-all we described a few posts back?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 21:12
|
|
|
No chance, but it's nice to be able to put a name to certain situations.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 21:54
|
|
|
Hofstadter's Law is funny enough that it can work: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 23:06
|
|
|
To anyone who read my last post concerning whether I should take a 1st Line support role over my current position as a 1st line (With some systems administration): Thanks for your advice everyone, and apologies for a perceived lack of interest in your replies. I did read everything but it's been really busy over the past week. I'm handing in my notice at my current job and taking the position at the new company. The new company looks pretty cool. 8% matching pension scheme, private healthcare and £300 for every microsoft exam I pass (So, if I were to complete all three MCSA exams for Server 2008, that's an extra £900 onto my salary). They're matching my current salary and will up it by £1000 if I can pass my probation, which involves getting my Microsoft MTA cert within 3 months of starting work. I cleared up my job duties with the owner of the company. The day shift will be primarily focused around helpdesk duties, however there is plenty of interaction on servers. It's not just end user/desktop support which I'm really happy about. The night shift is where it gets interesting. 4PM to 10PM, and it mostly focuses around server patching and general maintenance. I can work from home for that shift! Exciting. The guys there all seem nice and they've got a much better ticketing solution and way of handling escalations, compared to my current company. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 00:42
|
|
|
So I've decided next year is if I'm ever going to make moving to Austin work. Is it reasonable to be able to find anything at 45k+ with A+ and CCNA with a year of PC support and 2 years L1/L2 helldesk?
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 01:47
|
|
|
TX297 posted:So I've decided next year is Kind of depends on the area, but generally yes.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 10:40
|
|
|
Being in Central Illinois working for a business with branch offices sucks today. Of my ~60 branches, about 10 are completely down, and 30 are running on backup VPN links. I plan to have some irritated users in the morning.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 01:34
|
|
|
adorai posted:Being in Central Illinois working for a business with branch offices sucks today. Of my ~60 branches, about 10 are completely down, and 30 are running on backup VPN links. I plan to have some irritated users in the morning. Technical Support, Ororo Munroe speaking, how can I do the needful?
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 01:43
|
|
|
So how hard would it be for me to jump from Level 1 Help Desk to Field Tech with a BACS(low GPA, focused on programming) and A+? Would that be a significant jump or should I shoot higher? I really want to be working with systems more than my current position where I'm officially level 1 but have to do level 2 and 3 work all the time(through phone and then email because some admins don't want to be called.) I'm looking in the Columbus, Ohio area if that helps at all. I've given up on Dayton(every drat place wants security clearace and 5+ years experience) and the place I'm working for now is about to shake things up a bit too much for $12 an hour. I asked earlier about it being appropriate to leave after 7 months, but now that I'm considering that, I'm going to need to go somewhere I can actually work a little more long term. JR System admin would be a great thing to be, but while I could easily install Windows Server, other than a single online class I never touched it.
Dehry fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Nov 18, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 05:41
|
|
|
Could you post the job description (or a paraphrase of it) for the field tech job? It's kind of a nebulous title. If it's a contracting gig where you drive to sites and swap out laptop keyboards or whatever, I would not consider that a step up from helpdesk. But as always it depends on the actual company and job, as well as the pay and benefits, to determine whether a move is worth it.
Docjowles fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Nov 18, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 05:50
|
|
|
I would consider field tech to be on par with level 2 helpdesk, and I do believe 8-12 months is not an unreasonable amount of time to wait to make that jump. Like docjowles implied, titles are garbage and vary too much, so this could be way off.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 06:11
|
|
|
There isn't a specific job in mind at the moment. Just looking at some of the Columbus area jobs I've seen a couple that say "responsible for fixing issues, hardware installation, reimaging laptops/PC and taking requests by phone. Must be able to lift 35 lbs" which to me sounds a hell of a lot better than "sit in cubicle taking phone calls/emails from 10 different businesses and fix through VNC." Not having a script(that doesn't exist but they want you to say xyz during the call) would also be nice.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 14:39
|
|
|
I've been browsing craiglist for entry level jobs in my area and I came across this one. This just screams terrible, but I'm now 3 weeks into my job search with no results so I'm desperate enough to consider it.quote:Removed just in case. Multiple exclamation points, no actual description of the types of systems or networks I would be administering, dumb questions about how much you love computers, and more just scream either scam, terrible commission based sales position selling "Speed up your PC by 500%!!!!" software, or at best a call center job where I won't actually learn anything. "Meals served daily"? Is this a prison? Oh, and you have to take an online personality test to be considered for the position. Ugh. Sorry I sound so pessimistic. Cardboard Fox fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Nov 19, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 17:49
|
|
|
Cardboard Fox posted:Sorry I sound so pessimistic. I'm applying for the same type of jobs, basically anything from palm beach down to miami and I skipped over that one. The listings have been terrible lately, I'll pm you if I get any leads.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 17:59
|
|
|
Amphion posted:I'm applying for the same type of jobs, basically anything from palm beach down to miami and I skipped over that one. The listings have been terrible lately, I'll pm you if I get any leads. Oh, I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks so. Recruiters aside, I haven't had any leads to anything resembling IT support. I'm seriously considering moving at this point. Thanks for the leads, I'll be sure to send you some as well. e: I've even started checking out local Zoos and parks. None of them have any positions. I don't think they even have IT departments. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 18:11
|
|
|
Dehry posted:So how hard would it be for me to jump from Level 1 Help Desk to Field Tech with a BACS(low GPA, focused on programming) and A+? Would that be a significant jump or should I shoot higher? I really want to be working with systems more than my current position where I'm officially level 1 but have to do level 2 and 3 work all the time(through phone and then email because some admins don't want to be called.) I'm looking in the Columbus, Ohio area if that helps at all. I've given up on Dayton(every drat place wants security clearace and 5+ years experience) and the place I'm working for now is about to shake things up a bit too much for $12 an hour. I asked earlier about it being appropriate to leave after 7 months, but now that I'm considering that, I'm going to need to go somewhere I can actually work a little more long term. JR System admin would be a great thing to be, but while I could easily install Windows Server, other than a single online class I never touched it. I would still try applying for the security clearance jobs - it's no longer an insurmountable barrier to employment like it once was. I didn't have my clearance when I applied for my job, and it took them a little over 30 days to adjudicate my final clearance. Three companies to look at in my experience are Valdez International, CACI, and GDIT. Ball Aerospace might also be a possibility, but they usually like for you to have your clearance, so I doubt if they'd look at your resume. MacB (MacAulay-Brown), Northrop Grumman, SAIC, Booz Allen, and CSC all have substantial presences here in Dayton, so you might try shooting your resume out to them as well. If you don't mind Helpdesk and don't feel the need the slit your wrists at the thought of working in the medical industry you can try applying to Premier Health Partners. When I left they were in the process of starting cross-training of field personnel and Helpdesk, so it may be that they've finally figured their poo poo out or the idea crashed and burned horribly.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 20:49
|
|
|
Daylen Drazzi posted:If you don't mind Helpdesk and don't feel the need the slit your wrists at the thought of working in the medical industry you can try applying to Premier Health Partners. When I left they were in the process of starting cross-training of field personnel and Helpdesk, so it may be that they've finally figured their poo poo out or the idea crashed and burned horribly. If I'm remembering correctly, that medical company had you becoming borderline suicidal. Not sure they really warrant a recommendation 
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 20:53
|
|
|
Docjowles posted:If I'm remembering correctly, that medical company had you becoming borderline suicidal. Not sure they really warrant a recommendation Different strokes for different folks. And yeah, there is no recommendation, just a casual mention in case someone actually enjoys working at places that cause you to develop mental health issues.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 22:47
|
|
|
Anyone ever opened a ticket with Oracle support? My vendor has an issue with their database locking up, and they told me over a month ago that they had to escalate to Oracle because their own DBA couldn't fix it. There have been zero news on that issue, and I'm wondering if it's because they never actually opened a ticket, or if Oracle is usually slow to respond. Unfortunately, I have to go through the vendor, and I cannot contact Oracle directly
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 22:56
|
|
|
Daylen Drazzi posted:Different strokes for different folks. And yeah, there is no recommendation, just a casual mention in case someone actually enjoys working at places that cause you to develop mental health issues. You're selling it well
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2013 23:01
|
|
|
Caged posted:You're selling it well Let me put it this way - my doctor's primary appeal was that he was not associated in any way, shape or form with Premier Health Partners. That has since changed, and while I like him, I'm seriously debating trying to find another physician. Unfortunately, with the new health care law changes, the odds of finding an independent these days is small and getting smaller.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2013 00:23
|
|
|
Alfajor posted:Anyone ever opened a ticket with Oracle support? In my experience Oracle db TARs (what they call tickets) got dealt with in a timely fashion, a month probably means they never actually opened a case. God help you if you're filing a TAR about something other than a database issue though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2013 00:45
|
|
|
Alfajor posted:Anyone ever opened a ticket with Oracle support?
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2013 01:12
|
|
|
That's what I imagined. Now I feel more comfortable calling them out on their bullshit answer of today. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2013 02:42
|
|
|
It's the 21 Century with bathing readily available in your home for literally pennies yet nerds still refuse to shower. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2013 11:47
|
|
|
I looked up the definition of micromqnagement on wikipedia. It exactly sums up my current semi-boss. Including all the reasons and stuff.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2013 13:36
|
|
|
Does anyone have advice for log monitoring solutions for Windows-based hosts? We're looking to gather text-based logs from a number of different sources and collect them centrally for analysis. I've heard of logstash but I've heard mixed reviews of it on Windows.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2013 16:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 11:05 |
|
|
Balthesar posted:Does anyone have advice for log monitoring solutions for Windows-based hosts? We're looking to gather text-based logs from a number of different sources and collect them centrally for analysis. I've heard of logstash but I've heard mixed reviews of it on Windows. Setup Splunk and install the Splunk Universal Forwarder on each of the systems you want to monitor log files on.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2013 16:06
|
|
