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What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

  • 1.  What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Thu March 10, 2022 03:43 PM
    To be clear.. This is NOT a request for resumes or the like, I'm not trying to poach people..
    What I'm finding is the life-long headache of finding qualified candidates..
    During interviews, I'm asking questions that *I* feel a senior AIX Admin should know. 
    After a couple of candidates, the headhunter told me: "I've spoken to other admins, and none of them know those answers".

    What is the basic content/purpose of an inode?  What content goes into a directory entry?
       what's the difference between a hard and a soft/symbolic Link?  what are the pros-cons to each?
    How do you know if your queue_depth is sized properly?  Explain the service time fields in the iostat output.

    if you've been working with AIX (or heck, any Unix variant) for 10+ years... should you not fully understand the above types of questions?
    I feel  "doing the same thing for 10 years, is NOT the same as having 10 years of experience"
    and certifications are hit and miss IMHO.

    But, maybe I'm wrong... maybe my questions are too esoteric and I'll never find someone who meets my standards...
    and that's more the point of this question/post...

    What should i expect from someone who claims to be a senior person??






    ------------------------------
    Tom McGivern
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Thu March 10, 2022 04:26 PM
    On Thu, Mar 10, 2022 at 08:43:14PM +0000, Tom McGivern via IBM Community wrote:
    > What I'm finding is the life-long headache of finding qualified
    > candidates..

    Sorry you're having a hard time finding qualified people.

    Don't be sorry about poaching if you finally find the right
    person. Labor has a market too.

    You should join the IRC chat (libera.chat, ##aix). There are AIX
    people looking for work you might find significantly more
    qualified. Why IRC? Because it's a people filter. You'll only find
    technical people there.

    > During interviews, I'm asking questions that *I* feel a senior AIX
    > Admin should know.? After a couple of candidates, the headhunter
    > told me: "I've spoken to other admins, and none of them know those
    > answers".

    On the opposite side, try knowing these things and finding customers
    or employers where that knowledge is appreciated or required.

    Feels like headhunters fail on both sides of the coin.

    > What is the basic content/purpose of an inode?? What content goes
    > into a directory entry? ?? what's the difference between a hard and
    > a soft/symbolic Link?? what are the pros-cons to each? How do you
    > know if your queue_depth is sized properly?? Explain the service
    > time fields in the iostat output.

    Any difficult questions yet?

    Please read this hexdump from this driver using this header file from
    the driver source? How do you stop ^H appearing on the command line?
    Produce a histogram of file sizes using only shell tools? Send just
    one ping packet? Read your email with just telnet on the command line?

    > if you've been working with AIX (or heck, any Unix variant) for 10+
    > years... should you not fully understand the above types of
    > questions? I feel? "doing the same thing for 10 years, is NOT the
    > same as having 10 years of experience" and certifications are hit
    > and miss IMHO.

    I agree completely. Unfortunately it's a classic problem with
    categorization. These categories are often poorly defined and too
    broad.

    I've worked with admins which blew me away with the depth of their
    knowledge and their curiosity to know more! I always love it when they
    can teach me something too. I hang onto their names and network with
    them!

    I've also had the opposite issue where system administrators were
    really just application administrators or other non-technical roles,
    where the system fell under their responsibility.

    There are all types, but both will be listed in the same job title on
    their resume.

    > But, maybe I'm wrong... maybe my questions are too esoteric and I'll
    > never find someone who meets my standards... and that's more the
    > point of this question/post...
    >
    > What should i expect from someone who claims to be a senior person??

    Please remember in the Windows world, a senior admin has 3-5 years
    experience. Doing what? No idea. They just are senior! It pollutes the
    whole categorization effort.

    I feel like a junior admin is a setup up from an operator. They are
    assigned monitoring and trivial tasks. They don't make independent
    decisions or take action without supervision.

    A regular systems administrator should be able to install an OS and
    their application. They should be able to do typical troubleshooting,
    upgrades, and handle small projects.

    A senior administrator should know enough virtualization, storage,
    clustering, and technical details to never need level 1 support. They
    should have administered many systems through their complete lifecycle
    over several years, ideally with a heterogeneous environment. They
    should be the mentor to systems administrators and junior
    administrators in their organization.

    Does that help?

    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Russell Adams Russell.Adams@AdamsSystems.nl
    Principal Consultant Adams Systems Consultancy
    http://adamssystems.nl/


    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Thu March 10, 2022 08:43 PM
    Thanks Russell, some good tips
    While I don't see the opportunity to ask them to read a hexdump, I may start sending the headhunter some common error messages they should be able to figure out.

    Tom




    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Fri March 11, 2022 09:26 AM

    Well... in the past I interviewed people who claimed to have more than 7 or 8 years of experience. After some questions and tests, I could only say that they did not have all those years of experience, but only 1 or 2 repeated a few times.

    And it is that they were doing the same thing all that time in their seats. Doing the same will never stop being Junior.

     

    I think that a Senior is the one who has real experience and has not been doing just one thing, he is the one who is learning something all the time, he is the one who is trying to make things happen by doing something new.

    But I think the most important characteristic of a Senior is that they are teachers, guides and mentors to others.

    Of course, their experience allows them to avoid asking for help for little things, because of that they provide better results and in shorter times than others.

    They cost more than first or even second level technicians, and often ask to be called the third level.

     

    Personally, there are not specific though questions to ask for probe someone is a Senior, but they must know a little of everything.

     

    Regards

     

    Luis Rojas




    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Sat March 12, 2022 11:17 AM

    "Well... in the past I interviewed people who claimed to have more than 7 or 8 years of experience. After some questions and tests, I could only say that they did not have all those years of experience, but only 1 or 2 repeated a few times.

    And it is that they were doing the same thing all that time in their seats. Doing the same will never stop being Junior."

    Correct, but that is not really their fault, just the way the job is. Maybe that is why they want to move on, because they don't feel challenged.



    ------------------------------
    Henrik Morsing
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Sat March 12, 2022 03:12 PM
    It may be a limitation of their job, but there's not a limitation on learning.
    A senior person should be researching what's "new and improved" to determine if it is appropriate for their environment.



    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Sun March 13, 2022 11:02 AM
    That may work in smaller companies, but I have worked at plenty of large companies where there was just no wiggle room. I've also worked at companies where the team was so understaffed, and/or other teams and environment so chaotic, that you simply had no time to do anything but just keep things running despite the best intentions in the world.

    ------------------------------
    Henrik Morsing
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Fri March 11, 2022 09:35 AM
    Hmm

    Don't know what to say. Those are very interesting question but maybe not very frequent in the working environment, mostly in academic environments. 


     


    César Daniel Delgado Ponce.

    Sistemas Operativos Seguridad Distribuidos (6181)
    +58 212 503 0619
    Twitter:@MercantilBanco
    YouTube: Mercantil Banco





    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Fri March 11, 2022 09:26 AM
    Hi Tom,

    Although I honestly have become wiser every year of my 25 year Unix career, everyone has a certain level they have the capacity to reach and will plateau after that. I have worked with some superbly skilled people but have also worked with many people with decades of experience, who should have never left first line support.

    Speaking of first line, I also think one problem is that unlike the Windows world, the Unix world only tend to have third line, or more correctly, the same little team covers 1st, 2nd and 3rd line, and it means that there is no-way to differentiate their careers.

    As Russell hinted at, recruiters and to a large extent interviewers, also do not understand interviewing and the process end up becoming rather random. I have had many recruiters mistakenly reassure me that my interview will just be an informal chat. I don't want an informal chat! I'm an IT person, I am CRAP at chatting. The few times I have sat down to do a written test I have always aced it and been offered the job.

    But I do know quite a few good people. I suspect a lot also get their jobs by word of mouth, especially contractors, so it might be the less good coming through recruiters.

    The questions you ask above I could have answered within a year of using Unix. It's bad that you have had so many failing to answer those questions. Your profile doesn't reveal your location, but I do know people who might be interested in a job.

    P.S. Follow Russell's suggestion and join ##aix on Libera.​

    ------------------------------
    Henrik Morsing
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Fri March 11, 2022 10:00 AM
    Tom,

    I would probably say that defining job descriptions for admins was one of the toughest things I have done. I was able to locate this page that based their descriptions on what SAGE had developed. SAGE does not appear to exist any more.

    https://cryptomonkeys.com/2017/05/sage-job-descriptions/

    I hope this web page is able to help you define a list of requirements to hand to your recruiters. And I agree, good talent can be hard to find.

    ------------------------------
    Grover Davidson
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Fri March 11, 2022 10:10 AM

    Hello Tom McGivern,

    Turn your  search towards Canada (Toronto).. As this place is great graveyard of skills and knowledge.   .. Afzal Toronto

     

    Thanks,

    Afzal Muhammad

     

    IBM Certified AIX System Administrator AIX 6.1

    IBM Certfired AIX System Administrator AIX 4.3

    IBM Certified WebSphere 6.0 Adminstrator

    Red Had Linux 7 Certified  System Administrator (RHCSA)

    Global pSeries platform services – AIX

    Ford Motor Company,  Dearborn Michigan

    United States of America

    Tel: Cell 1-704-492-0586

    Email: mafzal10@ford.com

     




    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Fri March 11, 2022 06:12 PM
    What Constitutes a Senior Admin,  in my opinion.  

    I have 25 years experience in AIX/IBM and title myself a Senior Admin / Engineer.  I can not quote all the commands syntax possibilities however I know what commands I need and can figure out the Syntax I need for a problem I am trying to solve.  Granted the ones I use regularly I know really well.   UNIX and AIX in particular is vast and if you can answer a quiz from memory covering its vastness I am impressed.   You have either been doing one particular support over and over again or you have amazing ability to remember everything.  I am constantly learning new ways to skin a cat or more applicably configure an environment for performance enhancement or what ever the client's needs are.

    My point is that what makes me as Senior Admin as opposed to my junior counterparts is that management does not have spell out to me how to get the end result. They give me the high level objective and I design the solution.  I document for my junior counter parts what I need them to do to and I take a lead role in supporting the environment for the client.   

    Subject matter that I would expect a Senior Admin to be knowledgeable in are Virtualization, NIM,  HACMP,  LPM,  HMC, PowerVC.  They should know the network and storage protocols like TCPIP / MPIO  I would expect they can setup a NIM environment or an HACMP Cluster.   Would be up to speed on the latest hardware and the Support Cycles of the product lines you have in your environment.

    The hard part about an interview is that you do not get the sense of the person until you work with them for a while.   If you are using contractors with your company and you find one that really works well with you and provides you the level of support you require then I would suggest you make them an offer.  Because the tough
    part is done you know what they can do and what they bring to the table.  There is not mystery at that point. 


    Anyway, this is the first time I have contributed to the Digest.  Hope I hope my offering was helpful.
    Regards
    Robert Gordon.


    ------------------------------
    Robert Gordon
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Mon March 14, 2022 07:38 AM
    This is a very interesting topic and I like to add my 2 cents to it. I worked as a team lead long enough and asked people the same/similar questions as you, Tom. But somehow I understood what @Russell Adams says:

    I've worked with admins which blew me away with the depth of their
    knowledge and their curiosity to know more! I always love it when they
    can teach me something too. I hang onto their names and network with
    them!

    As for me exactly curiosity and willingness to expand the depths of the knowledge makes a senior administrator. If (s)he knows the difference between a hard and a soft link, it is good. But if (s)he can find the difference, it is even better. That's why I don't ask such questions anymore. I'm asking about real world situations, which the candidate mastered and how (s)he did it. Then I'm trying to change the situation and show, how (s)he reacts. I always say, that the candidate may use any man pages, console, internet, whatever they want to find the information, if they don't know the answer off the head. I just watch, how they search for the information and how they read it. It is a basis for my decision if I can work with the candidate or not. Everything else (s)he can learn.
    ​

    ------------------------------
    Andrey Klyachkin

    https://www.power-devops.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Mon March 14, 2022 10:47 AM
    That's a trait that I try to find in anyone
    But, IMHO, for a senior, those searches should already have been done in their past.  I understand looking up parameters and syntax, but most concepts they should already know.  There're concepts that if they don't already grasp, then they're most likely not going to know that they should be looking for them in the future.
    Yes, I could train them, that's not what I need.  I need a senior who can replace me if I win the proverbial lottery.  Someone I can bounce ideas off of, and someone who can come up with better ways than my dinosaur methods.




    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Mon March 14, 2022 11:01 AM
    On Mon, Mar 14, 2022 at 02:47:08PM +0000, Tom McGivern via IBM Community wrote:
    > That's a trait that I try to find in anyoneBut, IMHO, for a senior,
    > those searches should already have been done in their past. I
    > understand looking up parameters and syntax, but most concepts they
    > should already know. There're concepts that if they don't already
    > grasp, then they're most likely not going to know that they should
    > be looking for them in the future. Yes, I could train them, that's
    > not what I need. I need a senior who can replace me if I win the
    > proverbial lottery. Someone I can bounce ideas off of, and someone
    > who can come up with better ways than my dinosaur methods.

    Having discussed this topic with many people over the last few days, I
    think there's two criteria here.

    Deep knowledge is a pre-requisite. It should be the initial people
    filter. If you haven't had to experience with at some of these things
    (ie: hard/soft links, inodes, trussing a process, cluster failover,
    etc) then you don't have the experience. Command line flags or trivia
    questions aren't relevant, but the basis for the depth of knowledge is
    very relevant. Certifications only test trivia. If the recruiter says
    none of his candidates know answers to these kinds of questions, then
    they aren't suitable candidates.

    The second quality is that frame of mind or attitude to keep
    learning. Being able to see the bigger picture. Open to learning,
    facilitating change. Insight into problems, avoiding pitfalls. These
    are all character traits that you will have to interview to find after
    the pre-requisites have been met.

    Sounds like you're looking for an equally experienced peer. They
    will be rare.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Russell Adams Russell.Adams@AdamsSystems.nl
    Principal Consultant Adams Systems Consultancy
    http://adamssystems.nl/


    Original Message


  • 16.  RE: What constitues a "senior" AIX admin?

    Posted Mon March 14, 2022 12:43 PM
    A Senior can be someone with 3 years knowledge or someone with 25 years knowledge.  Skills can be taught, attitude is everything.  If I was looking for a senior, yes I'd be looking for skills in your normal sysadmin areas. Knowledge of UNIX and how it works? Definitely.  Proven experience of NIM, HA, backup/recovery, SysAdmin, filesystem and disk management?  Required.  Initimate knowledge of command line parameters?  Not required.  More obscure tasks....The ability to find an answer, persevering in the face of adversity, the ability to communicate at all levels, knowing when to ask for help are worth far more.

    ------------------------------
    Michael Davison
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    Original Message