Linux as a career choice

[Vipul Gupta]

Hey everyone, 

3rd year is coming sooner than I thought for me and a faint realization has started to hit me that I have not accomplished much in life (or in college (or in school)). Well accomplished anything that really matters. I was thinking about my interests and wanted to know more about having Linux as a career choice and what it unfolds. What would all positions be there? Will they be relevant in the coming years, financially sustainable? Do I have to absolutely know the kernel for the same? I know there might be many blog posts on the same but I need a more personal viewpoint, so if any of your friends work in the field. Ping me or advice on the same. 

Cordially 

Vipul Gupta

@vipulgupta2048  

[Anuvrat Parashar]

Hi Vipul

On Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 8:19 AM, Vipul Gupta <vipulgu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey everyone, 

3rd year is coming sooner than I thought for me and a faint realization has started to hit me that I have not accomplished much in life (or in college (or in school)).

Do not go down that spiral of negativity. Its not productive.

 

Well accomplished anything that really matters.

 

You have your accomplishments, its just that you haven't assembled and organized them in a presentable format yet.

Start working on your sales brochure, aka resume, and see things unfold.

 

I was thinking about my interests and wanted to know more about having Linux as a career choice and what it unfolds.

Linux is an operating system. Where it takes your career depends upon the profession you choose.

 

What would all positions be there?

System Administrator, Developer, Kernel Programmer, Device Driver Programmer, Site Reliability Engineer, Automation Engineer to name a few
 

Will they be relevant in the coming years, financially sustainable? 

How much money you make depends upon how well you sell your portfolio.

Of course skills are important, but only skills are not capable of inflating your package.

Also selling a portfolio without having the required skills will not be sustainable.

 

Do I have to absolutely know the kernel for the same?

Not unless you work on the kernel. The world works on multiple layers of abstraction.

Just like a chef does not need to know how farm animals are raised or how wheat is grown / transported, you do not need to be aware of kernel internals for taking up a job role of a System Administrator.

That said, having the knowledge would never hurt you.

I know there might be many blog posts on the same but I need a more personal viewpoint, so if any of your friends work in the field. Ping me or advice on the same. 

 

Cordially 

Vipul Gupta

@vipulgupta2048  

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[Rohit Goyal]

I think Anuvrat has summarized it very well. Leaves very little for me to add here. If it helps, I can add my personal story to it. 

I didn't really do anything either in my first 2 years of college. There is only one way you should go from there.... Upwards. You got nothing to lose 😉. Start exploring what you like. As Anuvrat said, Look back, assemble, organize. Linux is just a medium. Just an OS. What you want to do further is upto you. Try and acquire skills. Not just technical but also social. Shortlist a few things which entice you. Anuvrat listed some of them. Its a really small subset. If I may add, there is operations, Networking, Penetration testing, Consulting(after you have good experience) etc. Some of these roles are even inter transferable depending on your work experience in future. The list goes on. There is no right or wrong. Its like food. You try, invest time and money, and then decide what you like and what you don't. Easier to do when in college. All you need is a computer and internet connection. 

Money - SHOW ME THE MONEYYYYY... Every profession can pay shitload and really badly. Money depends on what you do, how well you do and how experienced you are. There are newbie system admins who earn more than 10 years experienced programmers and vice versa. I know some IIM grads who earn way less than the people on this mailing list. You can look around you to find real life examples from your friends/family/acquaintances. Seeking money is okay. But think, why should anyone give you his money. As long as you are honest to yourself and can justify it, you would do just fine. But stay humble even if you can do great stuff. 

I think these were the most important  factors for me as a student: 

1. Passion: Passion to learn, to do things that you like. Passion would bring the dedication to your work. It will make you learn things that college can never teach you. 
   
2. Community: Build your community. Reach out to wider community. I couldn't have learn things that I learnt, without my Alias group at that time. Again different people have different ways. Find out yours. 
   
3. Projects: Please don't do the Library management system for your 3rd year project. It has been done already by millions of students in every possible language and still we use the paper registers in our libraries to manage the books. Or the Time Table manager. Try to find something which can have real life impact. No matter how small. Learn something new while doing it. Do something that makes your own life easier. Support someone who is trying to make someone's life easier. I know its easier said than done,  but I hope you catch the drift. Put efforts and use that time to polish your technical skills, presentation skill, time management skills, negotiation skills, innovative skills and most importantly your problem solving skills. 
4. Failure: Give yourself the space to fail. Don't go harsh on yourself that you can never fail. I have been rejected for jobs, projects and many other things more than you would even imagine. But I am happy because I tried and that 1% success was worth those 99% rejections. I am happy doing what I do. 
   

Cheers,

6 point someone who is still trying to figure out his life. 

Regards,

Rohit Goyal

[Aniket Maithani]

I think I would be the most NON-Serious guy to comment on this post. Just to give you a brief : 

- I flunked in my 2nd year and was on repeat year.

- Lost my confidence and everything. This includes my so called "Friends". But I would still say community and seniors helped me to become what I am today. 

You can read my answer : [https://www.quora.com/India-Which-is-worse-in-India-failing-in-12th-or-getting-a-year-back-in-a-good-engineering-college] 

As Rohit Sir pointed out. Don't be harsh on yourself. Most of the "TECH" word may not make sense to you now. So the key is PATIENCE. Stay! and look for options...

One of the most important thing I would like to focus on is 

Projects and Mentorship. 

Mentorship : This is more important than the kind of project you'll do. Furthermore, just to add make sure you are in sync with your "mentor" throughout your journey. 

Projects : Do some real life projects

Blog : Blog about your activity. After sometime when you'll read your old post you'll be able to feel the difference in your growth. 

Long story short : 

- Pick a piece of puzzle and solve it and put it back. Doesn't matter if your way is unstructured. 

"Experience matters!! " 

Regards
Aniket Maithani 

Aniket Maithani

www.aniketmaithani.net 

[Nipun Jolly]

Hey Vipul,

This question is indeed a very question and well put up. You have chosen the right audience for this kind of discussion.

Also, you have realized well in time that you have to something about your Interest/Hobby and turn it into a profession.

So if you say that You have not accomplished much in life, I will not give you that.

You know when and how to things. You are aware about yourself. You know what is Good and wrong for you. and in case of confusion, you put up questions.

that my dear is a very nice and practical approach.

Your mentors Anuvrat, Rohit and Aniket have beautifully summarized on your choices and what exactly needs to be done from your end.

Let me add a few more points being an IT Manager.

As an IT Manager, If I am hiring an employee to work for me, he/she should not be stringent to one field only.

I would recommend a person with the skill "Jack of All trades, Master of one", rather than 500% Master in one and none in others.

Also, being a Fresher in the industry if you walk out with a specific choice of Career options, your Employment Selection gets reduced to a great Extent.

We all start from step 1 and then we move on further. Jumping directly to Step 4 is never a good option.

Your resume only speaks about what you have accomplished till date, but can never tell the Experience you had while working.

For an Instance, I write in my Resume that " I was the president of XYZ club and I have organized many events ".

This what my resume says.

But when I look at my life, I see that I have learnt Time Management, Money Management,  the art of patience etc.

Also, speaking about the Salary package:-

There is no definition of good and bad package.

A person earning 6.5 lakhs and year and a person earning 13 lakhs an year have the same in hand cash flow. The difference is Just Rs. 20,000. (In spite the Package being double).

During our college days, we think that once we set our foot in the IT Industry, we will change the world. "I used to think the world ending in 2012 havoc will be created by me and iw ill be responsible for it".

But when I stepped out in the reality, i found that I have still a lot to learn.

I cannot continue with the same mindset that I had in college.

I have to change as per the Scenario.

This is another quality a Manager will like when he/she recruits a person.

Adaptability is one of key Stones to Success.

So, Just go out in the world, be spontaneous, be jolly, be ready to adapt, be a different version of you everyday. Try something new, you never know what next might hit your door and you would be flying high in the Sky.

Cheers.

Regards,

Nipun Jolly

NIPUN JOLLY

[Rohit Goyal]

*So, Just go out in the world, be spontaneous, be jolly, be ready to adapt, be a different version of you everyday.*

Don't try and pull off Aparichit level shit though. ;) 

I would defer from Nipun on one thing though. "Jack of All trades, Master of one". I think this is more applicable if you want a sys-admin/IT kind of roles. There are specialized roles where you need to know things deeper than wider. This is debatable and depends on lot of factors. Having said that, its important to have wider set of Soft skills that he has mentioned in his email. For ex: patience, time management, adaptability, etc. 

*if you walk out with a specific choice of Career options, your Employment Selection gets reduced to a great Extent.*

If you are master of one, make sure you actually are. And if you are, you don't need to worry about job. There are plenty examples here of specialists on this mailing list. Kantesh, Anuvrat, Aniket, Abhinandan, Mukul, Archit to just name a few.  However, if you want to be a generalist, welcome to be our(Nipun, me) side.