IDG Contributor Network: A career in Unix: The best and the worst
Having spent more than 35 years working in the field of Unix systems administration, looking back practically requires a telescope, but the view is incredible. Would I do it all over again?
No. At least not in the same way. Here are my thoughts on the best and the worst of these years, the jobs that both moved me along in my career and made me happy (and those that didn't) and the factors that made the difference.
Before I get too far with this, some basic stats. In 37 years, I've had 11 jobs. That's only 3.36 years per job. The longest stint was 15 years, the shortest was well under a year. I was let go only once. The smallest had 3 employees and two contractors, the largest probably over 10,000. They ranged from the DC area to San Francisco. At some, I was the only sysadmin. At others, I worked in groups with 20 or more. Except for two positions, my salary went up. One of those was a favorite for some very good reasons (and probably worth the salary drop); the other was a cost-of-living cut.
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