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Basic Required UNIX Skills?

Posted by Cliff on from the what-do-I-REALLY-need-to-know dept.

xirlosan writes "I'd like to get a job working in a UNIX environment, be it programming or administrating UNIX machines. My question is this: What skills are absolutly 'must haves' and what other skills are attractive to employers when looking for a job in this field? I have my BS in Computer Science and have a fair amount of experience with Linux and Solaris, so I'm interested in what more I need. I looked for jobs at Monster, and there are so many skills the recommend it's hard to figure out what the most critical are. Any help would be certainly appreciated."

3 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Impossible question by joto · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There is no such thing as a universal skill-set, that will be good enough for any kind of job. You will have to be more specific about what kind of job you want, and work on that skill-set. This is usually simple if you are a nerd, because then you want to work with what you are interested, and refining those skills are you hobby anyway.

    Finally, don't believe some of those job-ads will ever find their ideal candidate. Most of them just lists every three-letter-acronym they've heard about, and expect the ideal candidate to just walk in the door. It will never happen. Use common sense, and decide for yourself whether it would be worth applying for the job you are looking at.

    If you are intelligent, knowledgeable, and a quick learner, you should get a job pretty soon, but the times have made it a lot worse for newly educated to land a good job.

  2. Re:You need to know everything, not just the OS! by AtariDatacenter · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Absolutely true. The Systems Administrator is the jack of all trades. You are expected to know a little about everything, and what you don't know, you better be willing to look up. As an SA, you get hit from every direction with every problem that is somewhat related to what you do.

    The two big areas that probably help to be knowledgeable in? Programming, and networking.

    What you say about legacy is true, but often it isn't a major issue. I've got FDDI (100mbit fiber running a token-ring protocol) attached to a number of my servers. In the next year or two, it'll be replaced by 100mbit ethernet or gigabit ether.

    Agreed that "knowledge is power". But to go along with that, troubleshooting and the ability to 'figure things out' seems to go a long ways.

    We hired on a guy who wasn't advanced... he learned Linux for himself while he was on a boat that was doing some sort of oil exploration. But it was the willingness to learn and discover new things that caught our eye. Sure enough, he ramped up very quickly and became extremely skilled at systems administration.

    There doesn't seem to be any must-haves, except a lot of positions call for previous experience. That catch-22 thing. I don't think college does a great deal to prepare anyone to be a systems administrator (well, except for the paperwork), but a degree can limit how high you can go in certain companies.

  3. Re:Have a look at... by tomhudson · · Score: 3, Interesting
    If you have to ask what skills you'll need, you're at least 3 years behind getting those skills and the necessary experience. So be prepared for a LONG haul. (And 3 years from now, when you're up to "par", the bar will have been moved again).

    Sorry, but that's the way it is.