gregh  2008-02-14 12:47  system_administration  work   

When I graduated with my undergraduate degree, I had lousy grades, some significant history -- though limited formal training -- with technology, and a lousy job as a secretary at Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh.

Back then, you could actually read newsgroups regularly, as spam had not quite hit, and one of the groups I watched with interest was misc.jobs.offered.entry. For whatever reason, it his me that I should be able to find this in Google Groups. Sure enough:

Date: Jul 2 1995, 11:00 pm
Subject: BOSTON-Unique Oppy - Liberal Arts grads who love computers - Train OTJ
To: misc.jobs.offered.entry

OPENENVIRONMENTCORPORATION

OpenEnvironmentCorporation is seeking individuals for the following
positions. These positions are full-time, permanent positions in our
Boston, MA offices. OEC offers software development toolkits that
facilitate rapid development of three-tiered client-server applications.
Our customers are Fortune 500 companies, and our company is fast-paced and
rapidly growing. OEC is an equal opportunity employer. We are located in
Allston, a ten-minute walk from Harvard Square.

THE POSITION

OpenEnvironmenthas a unique opening for a bright, motivated individual
who is "computer literate" and wishes to train on the job for a technical
position. We are seeking a person with strong organizational skills and
a love of learning. S/he must be energetic, willing to learn, with a "can-do"
attitude.

The initial responsibilities for this individual will involve
setting up and maintaining a software and hardware purchasing and inventory
system. Through this, he or she will have an opportunity to learn about
Unix and PC hardware and software, work with the Systems Engineers, and
use his or her strong organizational skills. Over time, we intend to train
this person in system administration tasks and have him/her serve as the
dispatcher for hotline requests.

The salary range is in the low to mid 20's depending on experience and
technical knowledge.

Requirements:

Bachelor's degree
Excellent organizational and communication skills
User-level familiarity with PCs and common PC applications
Fearless attitude about learning complex technology
Willing to "work his/her way up"

HOW TO APPLY

Please send resumes and an optional cover letter to:

. . .

"low to mid 20's" was $23K. Fortunately, shortly after I arrived, the two full-time sysadmins supporting our complex development environment (we made DCE-based enterprise middleware) left, and I was dropped into the fire. $23K became $32K in a few months, OEC was purchased by Borland, and I eventually moved on. It was a good job. I learned a heck of a lot, and I got plunged deep in the world of developing complex web applications, before they had really taken off.