i wonder if i'll ever get another job in this valley

[rone]

(Before you panic, i am still gainfully employed and have no reason to doubt this will continue for a while.)

I was recently contacted by a recruiter who found my résumé on the Web.  The dotcom's job req began: "You're smart, you're fast, and most importantly, you always get it done.  Admit it, you're a rockstar."

I had to suppress the urge to backhand my craptop's screen.  So instead i wrote this and asked the recruiter to pass it onto the responsible party:

This is embarrassing.  I wouldn't hire someone who calls himself "a rockstar" any more than i'd want to work somewhere that looks for one.  It sets the wrong tone for this sort of work, implying that this person is going to hog the spotlight. The only worse term i can imagine is "cowboy".

You know what?  Systems administration is hard work, and it gets harder every day.  Companies want you to know at least a bit of everything and to be awesome at something.  The line between network and systems administration has blurred, and the line between DBA and sysadmin is blurring as well.  Staying current is a tough chore, especially when you've been working all day.  So spare me your "rockstars" because the last thing i need is to deal with some strung-out narcissist with root access.

Comments

first things first...

[drieuxster.livejournal.com]

The myth is that rock star is moving towards high quality player, and as most of your whining friends note, there is this problem that IF one were to take the time up front to do some reasonable analysis and design work, that one can avoid the need for 'heroics'....

But again, the problem is getting past the PR persons to the tech guy who will be leading the evaluation of what you really got.... On the last contract I had to explain to the HR person that the tarball I had sent as proof that I understood perl was a CPAN style distrobution, and that if she would be ever so polite as to pass that to the hiring manager....

My new solution is to update my uploads to the CPAN, and the next time I face the need to show code samples, just send the URL. Then in the interviewing phase discuss should tech folks check the various code repositories to see if the candidate uploaded anything they might have reviewed....

But that way of course means getting folks in the industry to get past the delusions... Given that the same meme is in so many postings, what it really sounds like is a fishing trip to get names onto a list of persons who could be interviewed, IF there were a job that they could be interviewed for....

OR head hunters are starting to worry that they are next....

Gosh, just like the HR folks....