Here’s another ‘be glad to have a paycheck and kiss our ass’ example, from a company that will not be mentioned here:
Jacques
Job Type
Full-time
Travel Required
0 – 10%
Job Description
As a Systems Engineer, you’re a full-time Linux tinkerer. You play around with our system, find areas that could use upgrade or improvement, and then make it happen. You identify issues before they become problems for our customers, and you help us find ways to work around those problems to create a more stable and secure hosted platform. You’ll explore and troubleshoot OS level, web server, database server, applications server, DNS, SMTP, and other software issues. You’re involved in the technical aspects of problem identification, systems architecture design, hardware/software specification and design, and implementation. Plus, you understand how to manage disk I/O and memory usage and how to evaluate and implement hot fixes or patches.
Job Requirements
If you want your paycheck:
Your responsibilities to the customers (the people who pay us the big bucks) include:
- Being mindful of security implications at both an application and network level in order to protect the data of our customers
- Identifying and correcting problems, both current and potential, and then making them disappear so as to create the best customer experience possible
- Providing basic user administration (add/delete user, change passwords, group administration)
- Using your keen judgment to make decisions that will ensure maximum uptime of our system
Your responsibilities to your co-workers (the people pounding on your door) include:
- Keeping yourself educated and up to date on current technologies and new versions of existing software solutions
- Having ownership over at least one subsystem or component with a high degree of accountability
- Controlling call flow for the support team
- Assisting in mentoring lower-level engineers
You have the right skills and characteristics if:
- 2-3 years working in a computer technical field with customer service experience is a must; a bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or equivalent work experience is preferred
- Linux experience is a requirement; Red Hat experience is preferred; Red Hat certification is a plus
- Basic knowledge of SMTP/POP/IMAP, system services (e.g., Apache, HW, RHN, Postfix configuration), mail transfer agents, DNS principles, common configuration locations (Apache, MySQL, FTP, Postfix, Sendmail, SSH, PHP), common service ports, firewalls, load balancers, multiple storage solutions, and file system structures
- Basic troubleshooting of system services (e.g., Apache, SMTP, POP, IMAP, HW, RHN, mail transfer agents), logs, restarting services, and clusters
- Solid knowledge of command line interface, PHP configuration, My SQL foundation (including add/remove DB, grant statements, show slave status, log files), performance monitors and their output using tools, zone files, and advanced RPM usage.
- High-level understanding of how the internet and firewall/load balancers work
- Ability to configure FTP servers, basic PHP and Apache modules, Postfix/Dovecot
- Other necessary skills: navigating command line interface, adding routes and keeping routes after boot, installing or removing RPM.s and adding IPs, using ssh/sftp, setting up Cron jobs, performing basic installation of third-party applications, creating and mounting file systems
You have the right skills and characteristics if:
- You are a respectful, articulate, positive, employee who truly believes that serving the needs of our customers is the way in which our company is going to set itself apart from our competitors
- You enjoy working for a 24×7 company
- You require only moderate supervision and are self-driven
- You have a strong positive outlook and have been searching for the opportunity to find an exciting, fast paced environment where your talents will be sharpened and you will be personally driven to work harder than you have ever worked before
The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees in this classification. It is not designed to contain or to be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of the employee assigned to this job.
Incidentally, because all applicants are assholes, you will be required to kiss our ass, whether you are hired or not….