[Open for offers] Looking for a part-time job part 2

skorupion · July 2022

So I've parted ways with my last company (mainly because there was not a lot of work, in addition to there being mostly DEV work instead of SYS admin work.)

So let the saga continue once again.

Looking for a SYS admin job (incl. support)
Salary expectations change depending on the amount of work (ie. if I have to answer 2 tickets per hour I'll charge way less, than when I have to answer 50 tickets per hour)

My availability is pretty high, but I would prefer it to be in the daytime in the CEST time zone.

I mostly learned everything by doing small things (like setting up a website, mail server, etc...)

I'd be very happy to work in some support position incl. managed hosting.

As always DM me for my CV, and I'd be happy to join your team

TheDP · July 2022

@ShockHosting

TheDP · July 2022

@ReadyDedis

EDIT: Sorry for the multiple post - IIRC, Bharat was also looking.

skorupion · July 2022

@TheDP said:
@ReadyDedis

Oh, shoot I will message the boss on WhatsApp I still have him on there. Thx for reminding me.

skorupion · July 2022

Little update: Some hosting company DMd me, I'll see how it goes

TheDP · July 2022

Hope all goes well.

Good luck.

skorupion · July 2022

Didn't work out, still searching

stevewatson301 · July 2022

A few things:

Please be open to taking different kinds of work - being "choosy" about the kind of work doesn't favor anyone. You're giving the impression to potential employers that you don't like challenging yourself and learning new skills.
Avoid taking a job in support if you can - it limits your career growth options severely because it's considered a "low value" job akin to being a factory worker.

skorupion · July 2022

@stevewatson301 said:
A few things:

Please be open to taking different kinds of work - being "choosy" about the kind of work doesn't favor anyone. You're giving the impression to potential employers that you don't like challenging yourself and learning new skills.

Avoid taking a job in support if you can - it limits your career growth options severely because it's considered a "low value" job akin to being a factory worker.

I'm saying I'm mostly looking for support, as with my last employer it was dev work, which I don't know and It will take too long to learn. I want a job in support as it gives me the thing that I need to learn right now.

stevewatson301 · July 2022

@skorupion said:

@stevewatson301 said:
A few things:

Please be open to taking different kinds of work - being "choosy" about the kind of work doesn't favor anyone. You're giving the impression to potential employers that you don't like challenging yourself and learning new skills.

Avoid taking a job in support if you can - it limits your career growth options severely because it's considered a "low value" job akin to being a factory worker.

I'm saying I'm mostly looking for support, as with my last employer it was dev work, which I don't know and It will take too long to learn.

Might as well learn some dev skills in C/Python/Go, learn a bit of Docker, Ansible/Puppet and some networking and OS fundamentals. The best-in-class jobs for the skillset that you're looking to develop - which would be SRE jobs - actually require a fair bit of dev skills and an understanding of these topics.

A job in support rarely exposes you to these concepts, your time is usually spent diplomatically addressing customers and getting them to cooperate with requests for information, etc. Further, there are places where you'd handle, say 4-5 tickets a day, but ironically, those are the ones which pay better than the job where you'd have to deal with fifty (since the places which expect you to handle a few tickets give you technically challenging ones that require the time investment.)

tomazu · July 2022

Please DM your CV or send your application to jobs [at] companyname .com. Thx!

Boogeyman · July 2022

Why not open up shop like @MikePT ?

chris · July 2022

Further, there are places where you'd handle, say 4-5 tickets a day, but ironically, those are the ones which pay better than the job where you'd have to deal with fifty (since the places which expect you to handle a few tickets give you technically challenging ones that require the time investment.)

This is so true, its the difference between microwave operators and being a chef. He's also correct in the bit about learning information, skills in different roles - I can guarantee there are staff at the "big" hosts that can copy/paste the answer to 'how do I reset my password' tickets in world record times..... But I wouldn't trust many of them to plug a monitor in 😛

Nothing wrong with varied skillsets - its what makes us so cool as a species, but I think the point people are making is you're leaning towards a pathway that conflicts with your stated end goal! What I would honestly do, is write down your dream job and work out the steps to get there, really break it down to the finite detail and then plan it out as though you're advising a 3rd party how to get there! It helps to disassociate yourself from your perceived ability/chances and plan it as a journey for someone else!

skorupion · July 2022

@tomazu said:
Please DM your CV or send your application to jobs [at] companyname .com. Thx!

DMd

skorupion · July 2022

@Boogeyman said:
Why not open up shop like @MikePT ?

For even a simple web host you need some money to start (ie. form an LLC or ltd., buy some reseller hosting, or rent a server, then you need some money to keep those things for like a month or 2 to be unprofitable, before they become profitable, etc...)

lentro · July 2022

I would like to honestly wish your next employer the best of luck.

yoursunny · July 2022

@lentro said:
I would like to honestly wish your next employer the best of luck.

This sounds like a negative referral letter.

chris · July 2022

For even a simple web host you need some money to start (ie. form an LLC or ltd., buy some reseller hosting, or rent a server, then you need some money to keep those things for like a month or 2 to be unprofitable, before they become profitable, etc...)

Youre right to be financially responsible - that's nice to see in all honesty! I started with limited company money, but had money I could "lend" to my business.

I think you're coming across as quite choosy, what is it YOU want to do, I feel you're being very broad in what you're asking and its probably a lack of experience so want to offer the benefit of doubt there - is there an example of maybe three types of specifc jobs you want to pursue and can you demonstrate ability in those types of roles. Like you mention support, what experience do you have in that area?

Boogeyman · July 2022

@skorupion said:
For even a simple web host you need some money to start (ie. form an LLC or ltd., buy some reseller hosting, or rent a server, then you need some money to keep those things for like a month or 2 to be unprofitable, before they become profitable, etc...)

Nope I am referring his sysadmin support to other businesses.

And from where you are there probably is sole-proprietor business license that costs less than LTD/LLC. However UK LTD is very cheap TBH. You can start there. It's only £12 company house fee yearly. You will need a UK address additionally. If you know someone that will let you use their address your only cost is company house fee. If no one is there for you a business address will cost you £24-125 yearly depending on location and features.

lentro · July 2022

@yoursunny said: This sounds like a negative referral letter

You have a keen sense of emotional intelligence.

With someone as technically intelligent and emotionally intelligent as you promoting the Deep Atlantic storage service, I think I'm ready to sign up!

Boogeyman · July 2022

@lentro said:
You have a keen sense of emotional intelligence.

With someone as technically intelligent and emotionally intelligent as you promoting the Deep Atlantic storage service, I think I'm ready to sign up!

Do you have part time or freelance position? I might not be as intelligent or smart as the OP but I eventually get things done with the help of Google. I will send you a short resume and my few work sample on opensource world.

lentro · July 2022

@Boogeyman said: eventually get things done with the help of Google

Yes, this is the right attitude!💪. I hate how sometimes, people say, "I don't want to do XXX because I don't know how to, or learning it would take too long." Well, nobody was born with knowledge, so while everyone else is learning and improving themselves, people with this attitude stay don't move forward. I had one dev with zero knowledge of distributed computing or infrastructure for that matter figure out how to get a virtual machine on Digital Ocean and set up Slurm on it in just two days. He also created a doc on it. That's infinitely better than a more experienced Linux sysadmin who tells me he'd rather not because it'd be too hard. A "can-do" and "can-learn" attitude is very important in life.

@Boogeyman said: Do you have part time or freelance position?

What are you looking for? We have more than enough devs in the short term (12 people are on our team, including 9 devs, 2 sales people, and me!), but we might be looking for systems administrators or people stronger on the Linux/networking side of things in the long term.

Just a side note, we're a very small company and it'd probably be unpaid until we start making money. But we can keep you on a list to contact in the long run.

Boogeyman · July 2022

@lentro said: What are you looking for? We have more than enough devs in the short term (12 people are on our team, including 9 devs, 2 sales people, and me!), but we might be looking for systems administrators or people stronger on the Linux/networking side of things in the long term.

Anything that will keep me interested. Possibly dev+sysadmin but might shapeshift if the work is interesting enough.

@lentro said: Just a side note, we're a very small company and it'd probably be unpaid until we start making money. But we can keep you on a list to contact in the long run.

At my current age it's risky to remain unpaid. I am not actively looking for job as I am very shy to apply in the first place and I have impostor syndrome and ADHD. Hopefully you have stock options if you can't pay me and I hope TensorDock reach NASDAQ so I can cash out. Should I DM you?

lentro · July 2022

@Boogeyman said: Should I DM you?

You can DM me. Maybe in the future, we'll have enough cash

But yes, everyone in it for the long-term has 4 year vested stock. Are you looking for like $100k+ (which is typical for US people?), and what geographic region are you in? Probably best do discuss in the DMs.

legendary · July 2022

@skorupion said:

@Boogeyman said:
Why not open up shop like @MikePT ?

For even a simple web host you need some money to start (ie. form an LLC or ltd., buy some reseller hosting, or rent a server, then you need some money to keep those things for like a month or 2 to be unprofitable, before they become profitable, etc...)

Actually no. You don't need llc or ltd for PoC. Run peoject, see how it goes and in time go for company if there is interest or just flop.

ralf · July 2022

@legendary said:

For even a simple web host you need some money to start (ie. form an LLC or ltd., buy some reseller hosting, or rent a server, then you need some money to keep those things for like a month or 2 to be unprofitable, before they become profitable, etc...)

Actually no. You don't need llc or ltd for PoC. Run peoject, see how it goes and in time go for company if there is interest or just flop.

This is bad advice from the moment you start selling things to customers. If everything goes wrong, as a sole trader you are personally liable for any debts. If your provider increases costs and you can't make ends meet any more because people no longer think you offer value for money, it's you personally who will go bankrupt.

The main reason for operating under a Ltd company / LLC is exactly in exactly what the Limited signifies - Limited Liability. If the company folds, you are only liable to the invested stock capital (which in the UK can be as low as £1). Obviously, if you lend the company money (this is the usual way of financing a small company at the start), you will be behind all the other creditors when it comes to paying back from sale of assets if you go bankrupt.

And you will almost certainly want to get professional indemnity insurance too, in case somebody wants to sue you. This is surprisingly cheap, I can't remember the split, but my company has £1m professional indemnity and £15k of assets insurance for about £300 a year.

@Boogeyman said:
Hopefully you have stock options if you can't pay me and I hope TensorDock reach NASDAQ so I can cash out.

This also is a really bad idea. Stock options are very hard to excise, if you quit or get fired before IPO, goodbye share options. Even if the IPO is upcoming, usually stock options can't be exercised for 3 years. Even if you do get the stock, the value of the stock will probably drop a lot from the valuation, at least in the short term and you'll have had to pay to exercise the options. If you get given free actual stocks (which is incredibly unlikely if the company ever hopes to get more VC), the situation is marginally better, but even then the value of that stock could become worth less than the tax liability in very short order.

Best advice: negotiate a livable salary from the outset. Treat any bonus and stocks as if you never see them materialise. And if they do, then celebrate because you got something you didn't think you would. Never trust promises of crap pay now and an increase of rewards in the future. Assume that you could be on what you start on for a very long time. Once you take a job, you are always at a negotiating disadvantage compared to before you take the job - your employer has no obligation to increase your remuneration, and if you chose to leave, you forfeit anything that might have been promised to you, so you become trapped.

I'm not saying any of this bad stuff will happen to you. But it could, and it has for countless people. Just don't take the risk, negotiate a fair salary from the outset, even if you have to forego some of the promised options.

skorupion · July 2022

@ralf said: This is bad advice from the moment you start selling things to customers. If everything goes wrong, as a sole trader you are personally liable for any debts. If your provider increases costs and you can't make ends meet any more because people no longer think you offer value for money, it's you personally who will go bankrupt.

The main reason for operating under a Ltd company / LLC is exactly in exactly what the Limited signifies - Limited Liability. If the company folds, you are only liable to the invested stock capital (which in the UK can be as low as £1). Obviously, if you lend the company money (this is the usual way of financing a small company at the start), you will be behind all the other creditors when it comes to paying back from sale of assets if you go bankrupt.

And you will almost certainly want to get professional indemnity insurance too, in case somebody wants to sue you. This is surprisingly cheap, I can't remember the split, but my company has £1m professional indemnity and £15k of assets insurance for about £300 a year.

>

This is exactly why I'm saying that starting a company isn't free. Let's say my host goes out of biz in 13 days from when I got a contract with them and started reselling. All of a sudden all my client's data is lost, and they don't get the service. What happens next is that I'm going to get a lot of chargebacks, and these chargebacks each will have the CC companies let's say a 13-pound charge per chargeback + the amount of chargeback. Now in a normal company, I will file for bankruptcy, but if I didn't have a company I'm liable for every one of them.

yoursunny · July 2022

@skorupion said:

This is exactly why I'm saying that starting a company isn't free. Let's say my host goes out of biz in 13 days from when I got a contract with them and started reselling. All of a sudden all my client's data is lost, and they don't get the service. What happens next is that I'm going to get a lot of chargebacks, and these chargebacks each will have the CC companies let's say a 13-pound charge per chargeback + the amount of chargeback. Now in a normal company, I will file for bankruptcy, but if I didn't have a company I'm liable for every one of them.

Don't take credit card.
Cash, check, and push-ups only.
No chargeback possible.

chris · July 2022

Don't take credit card.
Cash, check, and push-ups only.
No chargeback possible.

He could be mugged for the first two, nothing will compare to the warm fuzzy feeling he'll get from the latter

risharde · July 2022

@lentro he wants a sys admin / support job and you're here with a personal issue to lecture to him about being open which could make him look like he is lazy when he may not be.

He wants to work in the sys admin / support field to build his skills and hopefully a future there.

Becoming a good programmer/developer is not that easy. Google all the code you want and that will still only get one so far and add that if the person doesn't have the passion or aptitude for it or even the fundamentals of understanding programming its going to be a very sharp curve usually of which a company is hardly ever understanding and willing to pay for or have the patience to wait 6 months to a year to learn (and that still isn't near enough time to become a multi language programmer).

stevewatson301 · July 2022

@risharde said:
@lentro he wants a sys admin / support job and you're here with a personal issue to lecture to him about being open which could make him look like he is lazy when he may not be.

To be honest I started it, though I remain firm in what I said and it may better serve OP to pick up aforementioned skills so they can find better jobs, instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel.

[Open for offers] Looking for a part-time job part 2

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[Open for offers] Looking for a part-time job part 2

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