This morning, I received an email from TrueAbility regarding an interview that I did with them.
http://blog.trueability.com/2015/01/profile-linux-pro-russ-sanderlin/
Last year, while I was working as a sponsorship coordinator for WordCamp Orlando 2014, they reached out us to sponsor our conference last year. Unfortunately, since we had already printed up the signage for the event and I could not get them in last year. I was already aware of TrueAbility earlier that year and have been telling coworkers to go there to test their metal. I took this opportunity to tell them how much I loved what they were doing for our industry and they asked to feature me.
TrueAbility allows you to put your real world skills to the test on a live virtual machine (VM). They give you a list of tasks to complete and a time limit to assess your performance. Each VM is automatically graded and the score is published to your profile. This same methodology is used to apply for jobs for companies that have registered positions with TrueAbility. You actually apply for the job by taking on the challenges presented on a live VM. It’s a live audition for Linux professionals.
For most computer professionals, we are shy and are not exactly cut out to be salesmen, therefore not the best interviewers. That is not to say that personality is not important, but intelligent people often tend to sell themselves short by minimizing their accomplishments. There is no denying that this presents real world results to potential employers of what you can do without having to sell your skill set. Future employers not only see how well you did grade wise, they also get a playback recording of how you worked through the assessment as well.
Even if you are not applying for a job now, you owe it to yourself to take on some of the challenges they have out there. It really will put into perspective how much you know. The reality is, that even if you have been a Linux administrator or engineer for years, you may not have crossed into certain vast territories that the operating system has to offer such as scripting for open network ports. In my experience, Linux is so awesome it really just runs itself.
I look forward to seeing you out at TrueAbility showing off your mad Linux skills.
This is a good idea on many fronts. But I really like the idea of just doing a mental checkpoint to see where you stand.
Super cool interview as well.
There are times where you get into an egocentric lull of feeling like you are as good as you are going to get perhaps by comparing yourself to those around you. When you go head first into a challenge like this, it is a nice reality check that you should not rest on your laurels and the need to grow still exists.
Thanks for commenting!
I think you are right about intelligent people (of which I don’t necessarily consider myself to be one) sell their abilities short many times. Describing what you’ve accomplished is just telling your story.
Thought provoking post from one with “not-mad Linux skills”.
Hey Thad, thank you for visiting.
For the life of me, I cannot find where I read it. I read it on LinkedIn from an influencer in relation to how IT people tend to not interview well because they do not believe their accomplishments are that significant. The dots that IT people cannot connect sometimes is how their accomplishments are indeed significant to the potential employer. I have made this mistake countless times and realizing later “People care about that?!?”.