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A Linux Career

ViaNocturna2010ViaNocturna2010 Posts: 1
in Small Talk

Hey there!

I am very stuck right now and need some advice from the professionals.

My name is Arthur and I'm 26 living in the Netherlands.

I used to live in England and did my studies there.

The problem is that the UK aren't hugely obsessed with qualifications and value work experience highly.

Since I finished High School at 16 having received fantastic grades, I never even seen IT as a career, I enjoyed it too much and I always thought it was just a hobby.

I started work with computers and because of my experience with Linux had many jobs I loved with Linux.

I then moved to Holland again and tried the same thing.

The problem is that Holland base everything on qualifications. And I had no IT degrees or qualifications.

Every interview I got rejected due to it, whilst they said I obviously knew what I was talking about with IT and Linux.

They also don't really recognise LPI or RedHat qualifications. The only thing they recognise is HBO, this is a 4 year course costing an aweful lot of money and in those 4 years Linux gets covered for 1 month, teaching how you install it, use the terminal and apt-get or yum (hardly something I need to re-learn at this stage).

I guess my question here is, how can I convince people I am good at what I do, or any way I can get a job in Linux without needing to spend 4 years at university and thousands of euro's?

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you for taking your time to read this.

Arthur

Comments

  • rechil_colinrechil_colin Posts: 48
    See, this is a very peculiar issue..... cause global it certs r recognized all over the world. It is no matter 1 / 2 countries do not entertain the certs and identify only some of their identified qualifications. Though RHCE / NCLE now is the best certs amongst in Linux certs. As u wrote ur academic qualification r so good, but u never do any regular course on IT / comps..... Global certs r focused only of their particular field / specializations. That is why ur native land asks for ur IT qualifications. Is it possible to do a short term course like 2 years MCA / M-Tech on Comp sci or whatever courses r the same level which is available in ur country. I also completed NCLE but no one entertain me, (from Asian country). but when I completed MSC-IT, people gives value my knowledge / works. Though I can not help u very much, but can feel ur pain. Regarding this matter, u may look here for more info: www.masterstudies.com/Masters-Degree/Computer-Science-Information-Technology-(IT)/MSc-in-Computer-Science/Netherlands/
    and one more is here: www.mcmcse.com/othercerts.shtml

    Best of luck !
  • woboylewoboyle Posts: 501
    Perseverance! I have no degrees or "qualifications" in computer science / engineering, yet by dint of personal effort I now hold the title of Senior Systems Engineer for the largest cell phone manufacturer in the world. Software I have written runs 80% of the semiconductor, flat-panel display, and disc drive manufacturers in the world. I hold a US patent for adaptive systems software. And I am a director (last year chairperson) of a major IEEE affinity group in Illinois. How did I start? I started by selling computers and one of my customers who owned a major bakery firm did not like any of the accounting software that was available for PC's at the time. He and I agreed that I could develop an accounting system that would meet his needs (on my own time - no payment until goals were met). I did that, and the A/R, A/P, and G/L software I wrote ran his company for the next 10+ years. By then, I was the principal engineer for a company developing real-time manufacturing control systems, though I continued to support his software on an as-needed basis (once every couple of years to help new employees get situated). Interestingly enough, I dealt with the Y2K issues in 1992-3 when I wrote the original code!

    So, find a "sponsor" who needs some specialized software that you are capable of writing, and will provide you with references once you have met their needs.

    FWIW (For Whatever It's Worth), certs mean nothing. I interview job candidates regularly and certs may help identify possible candidates, but they are a VERY minor factor in our hiring decisions. It is what you know, and what you can do that are the deciding factors. When I was interviewed (late last year - started first of this year), I was thoroughly grilled and required to write some non-trivial code to prove that I knew how the "ride the bike". I thought I was not too successful in that (a few mistakes - corrected during the interview), but apparently they were happy enough with me to hire me, and these people are now my team-mates.
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