Ask HN: How do I get a Linux admin job with no degrees?
I live in central Kansas. I am 20+ years old. I've been playing around with Linux, networking, and virtualization at home for roughly 5 years.
Today I had an opportunity to work along side some Linux admins from a company that provides dealerships with hardware, software, and support solutions.
I was able to help with numerous parts of their script that they were not sure how to work with, as this system was an older unsupported system.
I would love to get a job doing something like this, i.e. Linux server/networking admin, but I have no degrees, and no experience doing this as a job, only for a hobby.
Thank you for your insights!
43 comments
[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 84.1 ms ] threadFor some reason, in this country, education is looked down upon. That is very unfortunate.
It would get you past the screening processes that you are having a hard time with for one. That seems like a benefit.
If I were you, I'd seriously reconsider this standpoint. Having a degree certainly isn't going to hurt you, and there are a lot of ways that it could help you. If money is the main concern, I'd like to point you at https://www.uopeople.edu/ -- they're accredited and tuition free. You only pay for exams - $100 each for a total of < $5000 for a BSc.
This shows what can be done:
https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/myprojects/mit-challenge-2/
OK so this is hardcore, but even if a few of the modules were completed that would prove something.
College, for me, was a largely positive influence. Admittedly it was expensive, but it was easily the largest catalyst for growth in my young adult life.
I'm interested in learning about what the easily-negative influences in academia are, because besides the cost I can't think of an argument against it.
I do think, however, that having a conversation with someone who beliefs are fundamentally counter to yours are tremendously valuable. It might help you empathize with their position, help you better understand your own, or at the very least make it easier to work with people who's backgrounds are different from your own.
Stepping into an environment that you won't feel at home in may be an excellent place for you to step outside of your comfort zone and grow.
I can't remember who said this, but a thought that resonated the most with me about college is that it is the time and place for making your brain the most interesting place to live for the rest of your life.
Ultimately, the decision is entirely yours, and college won't make you or break you. I can say that they were likely the most valuable 4 years of my life so far.
But coming from a similarly conservative background, I wanted to help you understand why some are rather wary of colleges. In my experience, it's by far not as bad as they fear - but you do have to get used to hearing people in your surrounding deride and insult your beliefs and values on a more or less regular basis.
Given lack of formal experience, maybe start with companies where you know someone already? Or e.g. you've met these admins, talk to them and see if they can help you out.
I've been working as a developer for a few years now and although I don't have any CS degree and I'm pretty young (low 20s) employers trust me after a couple of weeks.
Look for startups or entities that don't have too much burocracy and show them what you have done before. What usually happens is that you will get a freelance job for a couple weeks and they will hire you.
Real companies need real people doing real things, they don't care about bullshit. If you ship you are in.
Edit: Does it ever do any good to show up in person and ask for an interview?
About how to get a job, well I do move a lot and work really hard. I have never had to attend to a regular interview and I have never 'applied' for a job. What usually happens is that I meet someone that at that exact moment are looking for what I can offer, so I offer myself. They set an interview with the CTO, and after a few weeks they can't remember how old I was or what degree I had.
Talk to many people, work hard on your side-projects, attend meetups and hackathons and don't try to screw anyone when working on remote.
My situation might not be common, I feel myself a bit lucky, but I know there are more people like me and maybe my experience might encourage you to do the same.
Good luck and don't give up, you don't need a degree to prove what you are capable of. Work hard!
For any company that you're interested in, I would recommend trying to find a person who would be your direct supervisor if you were to get the job you wanted there and sending them a nice, personal email asking what sorts of opportunities are available at their company. Finding this persons contact information can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, but for most companies, some clever googling can get you close.
The great thing about emailing a human (rather than trying to go through the corporate bureaucracy), is that you're likely to get a human response. Even if they don't have a position open right now, they might be able to refer you to someone else in the industry. And, if they do have a position open, you'll have a contact to help you navigate HR, which can be especially helpful if you're missing some of their "required" qualifications.
I've used this approach in the past, and it totally works. It does require quite a bit of research and talking to quite a few people, but it feels a lot better than sending resumes to HR departments and never hearing back from them.
With that in mind, you absolutely cannot apply for one job at a time. If it takes two weeks to hear back from someone, and you're only applying for one job at a time, you'll be spending two _years_ looking for a job. Once you get out of the one job at a time mindset, it's totally possible to reach out to 5-10 people a day. You should be getting in touch with so many people that you need to keep a spreadsheet (or notes file, or something) to remember who's who in your job search.
Also, Don't let any individual rejection get you down, just treat is as another possible future connection and move on. Fortunately, when you're talking to 5 new people every day during a job search, it's a lot easier to not take rejection personally.
Good luck! I'm sure there's a position out there for you.
https://opensourceinfra.org
Get a support job. With no degree and no prior relevant work experience nobody will trust you in an admin role. Not all the skills you need to be successful as an admin are hard tech skills either.
- an ops guy without a high school diploma or greater
Then, on your resume, list that you have experience with those technologies. You don’t have to lie, but if you used a specific library and know it, then you know it.
I would frame it as a way to learn about the industry and make it clear that you are looking for a new role. I would be cautious about asking them for a job straight out because if they aren't in a position to help they might just say no and be done with it.
The key to getting a job, especially if your resume isn't conventional, is to skip the automated resume submission entirely.
It's a large enough metro area to have quite a few jobs, and I know several people (non-degreed) working in software development and sysadmin work there. I'm not connected enough to offer any greater insight than that, unfortunately (I live very far from the area) but you'd probably have better luck there than your current area.
But I'll also reiterate jklein11's and others' point: If you impressed these guys they can help you out. If you're getting rejected immediately by systems due to lack of a degree, you need a network to help you. Even if they don't hire you, they can vouch for you to other employers for at least an entry level or internship/apprenticeship position.