[TriLUG] job opening at cerient

[David McDowell]

would you like a washcloth?  ;)  ;)  ;)

No really, I dig the Cerient guys, their heads are in the right place.
 You will enjoy their "evilness".  :)


On 2/15/07, Cristóbal Palmer <cristobalpalmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> Having experienced the Cerient interview process, I'll give you some pointers:
>
> * Watch The Heathers[0] before coming. Be able to quote from it.
> * Polish your anti-OSU jokes.
> * Bring tennis balls (for the dogs).
> * ???
> * Profit!
>
> Seriously though... If you value independence & flexibility and have a
> good sense of humor (read: you have the linguistic equivalent of an
> automatic nerf weapon), you'll love the company (and the Company).
>
> On the downside, you have to get three copies of the Mission
> Statement[1] signed and notarized. Also don't let him fool you on the
> red tape. I've seen scrapbooking stuff all over his place--there's
> bound to be a whole *rainbow* of tape in there somewhere.
>
> Cheers,
> CMP (Cerient employee)
>
> [0] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097493/
> [1] http://cerient.net/about.html
>
> PS. This email is largely an inside joke. Mostly you should just read
> it as an endorsement of the positive nature of Cerient. We *are* evil,
> but only in our humor. :) If you actually want me to tell you why you
> might like Cerient in detail, send me an email off-list.
>
> On 2/15/07, Jason Tower <jtower at cerient.net> wrote:
> > and for all of you linux geeks who don't want to live in lenior...
> >
> > the time has come once again for cerient technologies (http://cerient.net)
> > to expand its labor pool - we're looking for a talented system administrator
> > slash network geek slash linux hacker to join our somewhat non-traditional team.
> >
> > if you're looking for a nice relaxing 9 to 5 job then stop reading right
> > now.  if however, you're interested in working at a highly linux/open source
> > focused company, then read on.  our client list includes everything from
> > individuals with a single PC at home to hosting companies with an entire
> > rack of servers.  just to illustrate the kind of things we do, here are some
> > of the projects that we're actively working on right now:
> >
> > - ltsp server also running vmware so thin clients can access both a linux
> > and windows desktop simultaneously
> > - multi server, high availability solution for apache, mysql, and openvpn
> > services
> > - asterisk server installation with both hard and soft phones (~100 extensions)
> > - invisible firewall/traffic shaping device to handle individual ip
> > addresses on a /26 public subnet
> > - wide range wifi solution with multiple interconnected access points (using
> > linux based wrt54g)
> > - linux based backup strategy for linux/osx/windows workstations and servers
> > - multi interface openbsd firewall with invisible proxy service (url
> > whitelist) for specified hosts
> >
> > and so on.  if you really enjoy working on open source software and want to
> > see your solutions in the real world we'll give you plenty of opportunities
> > to make it happen.  here are some of the pros of working at cerient:
> >
> > - work from home = no daily commute.  you gotta like that.  you'll have to
> > travel to client sites several times a week but rarely during rush hour.
> > - flexible hours (i don't drag my butt out of bed until at least 9am most days).
> > - lots of cool hardware to play with.  we like toys, the more blinkenlights
> > the better.
> > - shockingly little bureaucracy, red tape, or office politics.
> > - distinct possibility of a "senior" or "vice president" title, impress your
> > friends and family who never thought you'd amount to anything.
> >
> > of course we're still a small company so it's not all peaches and cream:
> >
> > - no health insurance, 401(k), or other "big company" benefits (at least,
> > not yet).
> > - unpredictable workload (might be very light one week, very heavy the
> > next).  late nights not that uncommon either.
> > - customer says jump, you say how high.  even at 2am.  on sunday.  christmas
> > sunday.  and you're hung over.
> > - difficult to blame problems on other employees (in fact we'll probably
> > blame a lot of stuff on you).
> > - no opportunity to steal office supplies.
> >
> > so what kind of person are we looking for?  since we have such a wide
> > variety of clients and technologies that we support, the ideal candidate
> > would fit the jack-of-all-trades mold.  specifically though, we're looking
> > for the following:
> >
> > - reasonably proficient with windows (as a desktop, not a server.  like it
> > or not, we still gotta support it.)
> > - solid networking expertise.  not just ok skills, very good skills.
> > - proven and demonstratable system administration skills.  you'll be
> > directly responsible for the care and feeding of lots of servers doing lots
> > of things, and failure is not an option.
> > - the ability to learn new technologies on the fly and adapt to different
> > environments.  i assure you that boredom is not going to be a problem.
> > - most importantly, and i can't stress this enough, strong customer service
> > skills.  "that's not my job" or "i can't help you with that" are not phrases
> > that we use.
> >
> > i'll also tell you what we *don't* care about:
> >
> > - what kind of degree you have, or even if you have a degree.
> > - a bunch of industry certs proclaiming how amazing your IT skills are.
> > - the fact that you've worked at a fortune 500 company.
> > - how long you've been (or not been) in the IT industry.
> >
> > i think its fair to say that it will be unlike any job you've ever had.
> > this ain't IBM or GSK, and it sure as hell isn't a gov't job.  we have
> > (mostly) cool clients, interesting work, and a passion for open source software.
> >
> > if you'd like to apply, the next step is simple: convince me you're the
> > right person for cerient.  sell me on yourself.  surprise me.  demonstrate
> > that you have what it takes to perform in a non-traditional setting.
> >
> > jason tower
> > cerient technologies
> > jtower at cerient.net
> >
> > ps - any and all .doc files sent to me will be promptly directed to /dev/null.
> > --
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> >
>
>
> --
> Cristóbal M. Palmer
> UNC-CH SILS Student -- ils.unc.edu/~cmpalmer
> TriLUG Vice Chair
> "There are many roads to enlightenment, and thus many roads back to
> the One True Debian" --crimsun
>
> --
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